Russian Political Scientist: “So-Called Orange-Forces’ Attempts will Fizzle Out”

Radio Moscow QSL, 1980s

Stimme Russlands (Voice of Russia, in German), September 24, 2011, 16:00 GMT, 12,010 kHz. Translation:

You are listening to the news from the Voice of Russia, read by Vera Grant.¹⁾

Moscow. Russian premier Vladimir Putin, who wants to run for another term as president in 2012, can be re-elected afterwards, according to political scientist Vyacheslav Nikonov. In 2024, Dmitry Medvedev could come to the fore again. “It seems that we are witnessing a long-term solution of the situation in Russia. We now know the setup of Russian power until 2036, the political scientist added. Nikonov found the platform presented by the Kremlin party exquisitely practical. “There were mentions of ambitious goals which are in fact not quite that ambitious, such as becoming one of the world’s five largest economies. I believe Russia will be up to that if it develops with seven per cent growth. I believe that we can become the fifth-largest global economy and the biggest in Europe by 2020”, Nikonov said. The upcoming presidential elections weren’t to produce notable surprises, except that there could be new faces among the candidates, such as Mikhail Prokhorov²⁾. Also, there could be attempts of unconstitutional activities by so-called orange powers. These however would fizzle out, according to the political scientist.

Some of the more judgmental wording within Vyacheslav Nikonov’s comments was put into quotation marks by RIA Novosti news agency, which originally authored the report. The quotation marks provide the written report with an air of impartiality which wasn’t noticeable as the news was read out on the air. The news agency’s report was apparently used as the only source for the Voice of Russia’s German department’s newscast concerning the election arrangement (a slight error of omission RIA Novosti’s report included was also faithfully read out).

Vyacheslav Nikonov‘s given name is also frequently spelled Vjatsheslav Nikonov.

He is a grandson of Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin’s minister of foreign affairs. According to a paper by Victor Yasmann for the Jamestown Foundation in 1995, Nikonov was a Komsomol activist during the (late) Soviet era, and was also politically active after the USSR’s collapse.  He is president of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, and the foundation’s website features a detailed bio.

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Notes

¹⁾ The original, in German:

soundtrack »

Sie hören Nachrichten von der Stimme Russlands, am Mikrofon begrüßt Sie Vera Grant. Moskau. Der russische Premier Vladimir Putin, der 2012 für eine weitere Amtszeit als Präsident kandidieren will, kann laut dem Politologen Wjatscheslaw Nikonow danach wiedergewählt werden. Im Jahr 2024 könnte dann erneut Dmitri Medwedjew das Ruder übernehmen. “Allem Anschein nach sind wir Zeugen einer langfristigen Lösung der politischen Situation in Russland geworden.  Jetzt kennen wir die Konfiguration der russischen Macht für einen recht langen Zeitraum. Es ist offensichtlich, dass Putin in dieser Situation die Möglichkeit bekommt, für die nächsten zwölf Jahre in Russland die Staatsführung zu übernehmen – falls im Land nichts Außergewöhnliches geschieht”, sagte Nikonow am Samstag zu den am Parteitag von Geeintes Russland anwesenden Journalisten. “Ich schließe nicht aus, dass ihn danach Medwedew ablöst. Das bedeutet, dass wir möglicherweise bereits die russische Machtkonfiguration bis zum Jahr 2036 kennen”, fügte der Politologe hinzu. Das von Putin auf dem Parteitag vorgestellte Programm der Kreml-Partei nannte Nikonow “ausnehmend praktisch”. “Es wurden ehrgeizige Pläne genannt, die in Wirklichkeit gar nicht so ehrgeizig sind – etwa der Einzug in die fünf größten Wirtschaften der Welt. Ich denke, Russland ist dem gewachsen, wenn es sich mit dem von Putin genannten Tempo von sieben Prozent entwickelt. Ich denke, wir können bis 2020 die fünftgrößte Wirtschaft der Welt und die größte in Europa werden”, so Nikonow. Die bevorstehenden Präsidentenwahlen werden dem Experten zufolge keine nennenswerten Überraschungen bringen – außer, dass unter den Kandidaten möglicherweise neue Gesichter zu sehen [sic] werden, wie etwa Michail Prochorow.
Außerdem könne es zu Versuchen unkonstitutioneller Handlungen von Seiten sogenannter oranger Kräfte kommen. Diese werden laut dem Politologen jedoch im Sand verlaufen.

²⁾ Mikhail Prokhorov bio at Wikipedia »

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Related

» No “Quadriga” for Nobody, July 18, 2011

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Still “Missing”: Gao Zhisheng

Geng He (耿和), wife of Chinese dissident Gao Zhisheng (高智晟), attended the Global Summit against Discrimination and Persecution , referred to as an international NGO summit (国际非政府组织峰会) by the BBC’s Chinese website, in New York on Thursday. Gao had repeatedly been detained and released in the past, before he was apparently abducted by the Chinese state once again, in April 2010. Also in April 2010, shortly before what appears to be his most recent, and still lasting abduction, he had publicly announced that he would give up his work as an activist, for the chance of rejoining his wife and two children who are in exile in America.

[Main Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/chinese_news/2011/09/110923_genghe_gaozhisheng.shtml]

Geng appealed to the international community to address the Chinese authorities, to let Gao get into contact with his family. According to reports quoted by the BBC’s Chinese website, her husband had been incommunicado (音信皆无)  after a brief contact with AP reporters this year.^*) Enquiries his family people had tried through all kinds of channels to learn about his whereabouts had failed.

Geng thanked the international community for help provided to Gao Zhisheng and expressed her hope that international support for her to find her missing husband would continue. She also hoped that China’s leaders, at a time the United Nations General Assembly gathered in New York, would hear her appeal of natural and human feelings.

The Global summit or NGO conference signed a human rights dissidents manifesto, and passed a resolution calling for the expulsion of China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia from the UN Human Rights Commission, reports the BBC.

The conference reportedly partners with the Human Rights Foundation, and could be considered a human-rights-oriented response to UN-sponsored Durban Conference, which had its first assembly in the South African city of the same name, in 2009 – a UN-sponsored event which my old classmate and friend,  Tai De, back then, described as follows:

The ‘Ndrangheta is asking for a rule that would ban “derogatory remarks” on the mafia. Besides, the UN Racism Conference starts looking like my mom’s kitchen garden – only bigger and messier.

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Note

^*) The brief contact with the AP reporter or reporters (与美联社记者短暂见面) appears to have been a short interlude, as Gao appears to have been incommunicado before, and after that contact.

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Related

» Gao Zhisheng alive, March 28, 2010
» Family makes daring Escape, Telegraph, March 13, 2009
» Gao Zhisheng, Wikipedia

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