NYT: In Russia, Dissent Grows Over Moves to Curb Autonomy

[DeepModem Mom]

In Russia, Dissent Grows Over Moves to Curb Autonomy
By STEVEN LEE MYERS

Published: October 4, 2004


CHEBOKSARY, Russia, Sept. 30 - President Vladimir V. Putin may have cowed Russia's national political leadership with his plan to concentrate still more power in the Kremlin, but in regions of the country that stand to lose the most, he has inflamed fierce popular discontent.

People in this region along the Volga denounced Mr. Putin's proposal to end direct elections of governors and other regional leaders as unconstitutional and potentially destabilizing. They fear that the Kremlin is planning further steps to recreate a Soviet-like power over the people....

***

The reaction among those interviewed here underscored what polls suggested was seething dissent in this and the other 20 ethnic republics that had achieved a measure of autonomy since the Soviet Union disbanded. In one poll across Russia, nearly half of those surveyed opposed Mr. Putin's proposal. But here, at least anecdotally, the opposition appeared to be stronger.

Mr. Putin has defended his plan, issued days after at least 339 hostages, half of them children, died in a terror siege at a school in Beslan, Russia, by saying he wanted to unify Russia against the threat of terror.

But many warn that it could have the opposite effect, stoking ethnic divisions that in an extreme case dragged Chechnya, another of the republics, into more than a decade of bloodshed....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/04/international/europe/04russia.html

[gottaB]

1. "A country without its czar is like a village without an idiot."--lol n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Wow. We got two in one with Bush.

[TaleWgnDg]

2. by gosh! have no fear, Dumbya is here . . .

defining what it IS to be president of the U.S.A. . . .

==========================================================
"I‘ve got a good relation with Vladimir. And it‘s important that we do have a good relation, because that enables me to better comment to him, and to better to discuss with him, some of the decisions he makes. I found that, in this world, that it‘s important to establish good personal relationships with people so that when you have disagreements, you‘re able to disagree in a way that is effective." -- George W. Bush, September 30, 2004, replying to Lehrer's question about Putin centralizing power in Moscow
===========================================================