Старые привычки … I don’t know if there’s a Russian equivalent for the English phrase: “Old habits die hard.” It would certainly apply to recent events in the Russian hinterland, where workers were ordered to attend pro-Putin rallies in a number of cities.
The Guardian reports:
A telegram from Sergey Lemikhov, a railways boss in western Siberia, to department heads, union representatives and veteran committees, gives a detailed breakdown of how many workers from each section should attend the Novosibirsk rally on October 24, which drew about 30,000 people. “Organise participation in the demonstration by workers and veterans of collectives and members of their families in the following quantities,” it orders. Hundreds of employees are told to attend.
A similar order by education bosses in Tver region demands that 55 schools provide teachers and pupils to attend a rally. There, supporters waved flags reading “Putin, we trust you!” The Union of Right Forces, a liberal opposition party, said it had lodged a complaint with the central electoral committee about the order.
Here’s the funny bit:
Anatoly Lokot, a Communist MP from Novosibirsk, said: “It’s very sad that the Russian electoral campaign has set off down this path, when the law is broken.” [emphasis added]
There’s no denying Putin enjoys wide popular support, and that he’s unlikely to shuffle quietly offstage after his term as president is over. The question is, will his next steps be legal? And perhaps more to the point, can his supporters be kept in check? One wishes we aren’t witnessing the rebirth of Soviet-style Cult of Personality, but the signs aren’t good.
