Moscow, 5 March: Yabloko leader Grigoriy Yavlinskiy believes that there are still manifestations of Stalinism in Russian life today.

"Generic features of the Soviet and Stalinist system - the 'end justifies the means' and the 'individual is nothing' - have survived. Forms of Stalinism have been modified, but its essence remains the same. As a misanthropic system of rule, Stalinism evolved, socially adapted and lived on till our day," Yavlinskiy told Interfax on Wednesday (5 March) on the 55th anniversary of Stalin's death.

He said that "such a state of affairs does not suit us and our supporters, but it seems that the incumbent Russian authorities are perfectly satisfied with it".

"No political conclusions, no historical lessons, no repentance - it may happen to anyone, this is in the Russian national character, and we should not feel ashamed because others are even worse than us," Yavlinskiy said.

"We cannot reconcile ourselves to the fact that when Russians are asked about their attitude to Stalin, it turns out that many of those younger than 30 assess his record more in a positive than in a negative way, and 20 per cent would be ready to vote for him if he stood for president," Yavlinskiy said.

At the same time, Yavlinskiy believes that "such a perception of Stalin's epoch is not due to an 'instinctive' authoritarianism but to the fact that a coordinated and effective campaign of de-Stalinization has never been carried out in the country".

"Young Russians don't know a lot about the dictator who raised the murder of his own citizens to the rank of a state policy and almost lost the war (World War II). On the contrary, myths and illusions about the 'father of all nations' are being preserved and propagated.

"There is nothing surprising about this. Textbooks containing historical analysis of the Stalinist political system, repression and the leader's role are not used in Russian schools," Yavlinskiy said.

Yavlinskiy believes that "the official policy of vagueness, half-heartedness and hypocrisy regarding Bolshevism and Stalinism that is now pursued in Russia has led to a deep crisis of self-identity".

"The state emblem is that of an autocratic empire; the national anthem is the Soviet one; Lenin and Stalin are on Red Square. The result is a search for a third way based on this same illegal Stalinist system: personal control over the courts, law-making, and the media, and an absolute lack of transparency and irresponsibility," Yavlinskiy said.