#1
RFE/RL Newsline
12 December 2002
NATIONALIST SAYS CONSTITUTION SAVED COUNTRY FROM
DICTATORSHIP...
Russia on 12 December marked Constitution Day, the anniversary of the
adoption of the country's current constitution in 1993, Russian news agencies
reported. Deputy Duma Speaker and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of
Russia (LDPR) Vladimir Zhirinovskii stated that the adoption of the constitution
"saved the country from totalitarianism," RosBalt reported on 12
December. He pointed out that the LDPR was one of the largest factions in the
Duma that was elected in December 1993 and that it worked actively to secure
parliamentary approval of the new constitution. "We understood that if the
constitution was not adopted -- and the Communists opposed it -- then there was
the real threat of the creation in Russia of a totalitarian-dictatorial
regime," Zhirinovskii said. However, he added that the constitution
"is not a sacred cow." He repeated his calls to abolish the Federation
Council and to reduce the number of federation subjects from the current 89 to
30. The new provinces (gubernii) should have populations of not more than 10
million and should not have their own constitutions. VY
...PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY LAUDS DOCUMENT...
Presidential envoy to the Northwest Federal District Viktor Cherkesov said on
12 December that the current constitution "facilitates the development of
the rule of law in Russia," RosBalt reported. Cherkesov, who formerly
persecuted political dissidents as a KGB investigator and later headed the St.
Petersburg branch of Federal Security Service, said it creates the conditions
necessary for "economic development and improving the social climate in the
country" and that it "protects individual rights." Cherkesov's
comments come just one day after President Vladimir Putin told reporters,
"between our constitutional guarantees and the realistic possibilities of
people to realize them there is a large gap," RosBalt reported. RC
...AND MOSCOW NON-CONFORMISTS PREPARE THEIR OWN
TRIBUTE
A group of avant-garde painters in Moscow announced a new project to create a
pop-art illustrated edition of the Russian Constitution, newsru.com and other
Russian news agencies reported on 12 December. According to the project's
organizer, Petr Vois, the edition will comprise 137 illustrations of
constitutional provisions, including many frivolous ones. Vois added that many
of the participating artists never read the constitution before they began
working on the project and that one goal of the initiative is to educate both
the artists and the public. The project will be completed by 12 December 2003,
the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the constitution. VY
SURVEY PROBES RUSSIAN ATTITUDES TOWARD NATO
A majority of Russians continue to believe that Russia should cooperate more
closely with NATO, polit.ru reported, citing a national poll by the Public
Opinion Foundation. According to the poll, 56 percent of respondents support
closer relations, while 23 percent oppose them. In May, these figures were 62
percent and 20 percent, respectively. In June 1999, 45 percent supported closer
ties, while 32 percent opposed them. The latest survey also found that 35
percent of respondents favor Russian membership in the trans-Atlantic alliance,
while 41 percent oppose it. Nonetheless, 48 percent of Russians view NATO as
"an aggressive military bloc" and just 26 percent see it as "a
defensive military bloc." These figures are virtually identical to the
results of similar survey conducted in September 2001. Sixty-nine percent of
respondents in the latest poll expressed opposition to the entry into NATO of
the Baltic states. The survey found the strongest distrust of NATO among the
elderly and the middle-aged. Among those under age 35, 35 percent oppose the
entry into NATO of the Baltic states and 39 percent view the alliance as an
"aggressive military bloc." RC
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