<102554265"> Russia – Politica interna
<102554266"> NYT 05-04-26
<102554267"/>
Steven Lee Myers
Ai confine sud-occidentali degli Urali, nel Bashkortostan (Bashkiria), una sollevazione popolare pone una importante sfida al controllo politico del presidente russo Vladmir Putin, con la possibilità che la protesta si allarghi dalla periferia all’interno della Russia.
Il Bashkortostan della dimensione dell’Illinois, una delle 21 repubbliche etniche della Russia nelle sue 89 regioni, è una regione ricca di materie prime energetiche; i Bashkiri sono il gruppo etnico principale, che si sono ritagliati un’ampia autonomia dopo il crollo dell’ Urss .
Il presidente Rakhimov, bashkiro, ha inizialmente dimostrato una volontà di indipendenza, ha governato la regione come suo feudo, gran parte delle risorse naturali sono controllate da società dirette dal figlio Ural.
Le recenti proteste sono scoppiate dopo un’azione di repressione poliziesca in dicembre 2004 contro centinaia di giovani; una nuova legge, che sostituisce agevolazioni sociali (trasporti gratuiti, gas elettricità, abitazioni, sussidi per cure mediche) con insufficienti pagamenti in contanti ha provocato proteste in tutta
In aprile 200 oppositori si sono recati a Mosca con una petizione con 107mila firme, richiedente le dimissioni di Rakhimov; continuano le manifestazioni, una è prevista per il 1° Maggio.
Le manifestazioni in corso da febbraio, chiedono la destituzione del presidente Murtaza G. Rakhimov, alleato di Putin.
Il governo Rakhimov è accusato di avere manipolato le elezioni, di crescente controllo statale sugli affari e di corruzione, accuse che ricordano quelle avanzate contro i dirigenti ucraini e kirghizi.
Nelle file dell’opposizione anche uomini d’affari, come Ramil I. Bignov, leader di una coalizione diversa di oppositori.
Lo scorso anno Putin ha eliminato le elezioni dirette dei governatori e degli altri leader regionali; la decisione ha sollevato le proteste in tre regioni meridionali: Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Ingushezia e Nord Ossezia, dove sono state chieste, senza ottenerle, le dimissioni dei rispettivi presidenti.
mso-ansi-language: IT; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA”>Nikolai Petrov, analista del Moscow Carnegie Center: siamo di fronte a una nuova ondata di attivismo sociale, pericolosa per la carenza di istituzioni democratiche che lo incanalino. <102554268"> NYT 05-04-26
<102554269"> Protest in Urals Seeks Ouster of a Putin Ally
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
FA,
Heartened by the political upheavals in two of Russia’s neighbors, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan , thousands here have staged a series of demonstrations since February calling for the ouster of the president of the Bashkortostan region, Murtaza G. Rakhimov.
An ally of President Putin, he has served as the leader of this largely Muslim region, formally an autonomous republic within Russia, since the collapse of the Soviet Union . He won re-election in 2003 in a contest in which his chief opponent withdrew from campaigning, reportedly at the urging of the Kremlin.
The issues are largely local, but the complaints against Mr. Rakhimov’s government evoke those that were raised against the recently ousted leaders in
While Mr. Putin’s authority seems to remain solid, events here reflect an emerging sense of grievance and impatience that is increasingly being expressed to one degree or another on the streets across Russia .
“An end will come,”
Although Mr. Bignov limited his comments to his hopes for Mr. Rakhimov’s political demise, the implications of a successful street campaign against the regional leader would reach Mr. Putin as well, most obviously because Mr. Putin has supported Mr. Rakhimov and because Bashkortostan, like the rebellious Chechen republic, is a part of Russia.
In addition, Mr. Putin has had a hand in shaping the way the dispute here has played out, as a consequence of his decision last year to abolish direct elections of governors and other regional leaders.
“It is evident now that instead of making its life easier with this proposal, the Kremlin created huge problems for itself,” said Nikolai Petrov, an analyst at the
So Mr. Rakhimov’s critics were left with only two courses of action: go into the streets and appeal to
In mid-April, with no elections on the horizon after two months of protests, some 200 opponents flew to
Mr. Bignov said the opposition leaders had made their case directly to Mr. Putin’s aides, though he declined to say whom in the Kremlin they had met. Mr. Petrov said Mr. Putin was unlikely to agree, for fear that a precedent set here would ignite protests against other unpopular leaders.
Since Mr. Putin abolished regional elections, which he defended as a means to strengthen executive power, protesters in three other southern regions – Karachayevo-Cherkessia, Ingushetia and North Ossetia – have unsuccessfully demanded the dismissal of their leaders . So far, though, the protests here have been the most significant and sustained.
“We are facing a new wave of social activism,” Mr. Petrov said. “And it is dangerous, because there is a lack of democratic institutions through which this energy can be channeled.”
The authorities here in Bashkortostan’s capital have responded vigorously, though they have not yet forcibly cracked down. Two hours before the protest on April 16, Mr. Bignov and another opposition leader, Anatoly N. Dubovsky, were summoned by the Federal Se
curity Service and questioned for five and a half hours, until the rally was over, as part of an investigation into charges of extremism.
Mr. Rakhimov’s supporters, meanwhile, staged a large counterdemonstration in Lenin Square here, arriving in more than 100 buses and swarming the spot where the opposition had a permit to assemble.
Among them were several dozen young men, many in camouflage, who scuffled with Mr. Rakhimov’s critics at least twice. They punched an elderly woman in the face and accosted the leader of the newly created People’s Front of Bashkortostan, Ayrat Dilmukhametov, who was then whisked away in a civilian car for several hours of questioning by the security service. [Mr. Dilmukhametov was released that night, Mr. Bignov said later.]
“This is the agony of the regime,” Mr. Dilmukhametov said in an interview moments before he was attacked, referring to efforts to disrupt the protest. “They are doing everything to bring these young people here and to organize them against their mothers.”
Bashkortostan, an energy-rich region the size of
Mr. Rakhimov, a Bashkir, previously displayed a strong streak of nationalistic independence . His critics say he has grown despotic, ruling the region as his own fief, with much of the region’s natural resources controlled by companies run by his son, Ural.
The recent protests erupted after four days of police sweeps last December in the town of
Fueling them further was a new federal law this year that replaced social benefits for pensioners – including free transportation and subsidized prescriptions – with cash payments, a change that has provoked large protests across Russia .
The opposition now includes many pensioners who complain about a diminishing quality of life even as powerfully connected businessmen in Bashkortstan, led by Mr. Rakhimov’s son, have grown rich.
Mr. Rakhimov declined to be interviewed. His spokesman, Rostislav R. Murzagulov, said the president was too busy with the spring planting season to address his critic’s complaints. Mr. Murzagulov described the opposition leaders as a disgruntled few who want to seize political power and the region’s riches.
He dismissed what is being called the “orange” inspiration, after Ukraine ‘s mass protests against a fraudulent presidential election. “We do not have a revolutionary spirit,” he said. “What we have is a small group of people who want to try to manufacture this spirit.”
Surrounded by a scrum of Rakhimov opponents beneath the square’s hulking statue of Lenin, Mr. Dilmukhametov outlined demands including free and fair elections, a suspension of the new benefits changes and the seizure of the assets of Mr. Rakhimov’s son.
He said the opposition would act within the law, but his remarks sounded ominous. “The time of resolutions, requests and appeals has passed,” he said, and then alluded to the poet Mayakovsky’s exhortation about a pistol commonly used by Bolshevik revolutionaries, the Mauser.
“As the poet wrote, it is time for Comrade Mauser to say, “Yes.’ ”
mso-ansi-language: IT; mso-fareast-language: IT; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA”>Copyright 2005 The New York Times