#6323
#11
Russian government spokesman denies Putin personality
cult
Moscow, 24 June, RIA-Novosti correspondent Alla Isayeva: The Russian government does not agree that a "presidential cult" is developing among officials. "Such claims are not justified, because idolatry is not the prerogative of the mass of the people in their entirety, but only of a few individuals," the deputy head of the Russian government staff, Aleksey Volin, told RIA-Novosti in an interview. Volin was commenting on the topic of "Putinization of the entire country" which came up at Russian President Vladimir Putin's news conference.
"Some people are devoting special attention to portraits, busts and life-size statues, and some not," Volin observed. "And this depends not on allegiance to political circles or a specific grade of officialdom, but on the personality of each individual." The deputy head of the government staff noted that in Soviet times the number of people with portraits of leaders in their office was substantially greater. "I know the same thing happened under [Boris] Yeltsin, so this is not some kind of [new] know-how," he said.
Under Vladimir Putin, "there has also been this vogue and a further step forwards has even been taken. Industry has started producing busts of the president", Volin noted. However, he believes, this fact can hardly be connected with the president himself - "industry produces anything for which there is a demand".
In Volin's opinion, it is hard to say what motivates people who decorate their offices with portraits of the president, to evaluate "the extent to which this is fashion, to which this is mockery, to which this is sincere love, and to which this is toadying". "It is hard to imagine that the president would go into some official's office and check whether there was a portrait there, especially as the number of offices which he can realistically visit is extremely limited, and in general he knows anyway what people think of him there," Volin said. "So, from the point of view of formal logic this is a very difficult phenomenon to explain," he acknowledged.
Volin agreed with Putin's view that, alongside the flag and the national anthem, the president is a symbol of the state, merely adding that "the anthem and the flag are permanent symbols, whereas the president is a temporary one". He is convinced that it will be a better reward for the head of state if the portraits and busts remain on desks and walls after his term of office ends.
Source: RIA news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1308 gmt 24 Jun 02
Back to the Top Next Article
- Back to the Top -