People's Democracy

Surjeet Interacts With The CPRF Leadership In Moscow

OVER in Moscow on June 27-28, general secretary of the CPI(M), Harkishan Singh Surjeet met the leadership of the Communist Party of Russian Federation at the Duma House, where the Russian Duma sits in session.  General secretary of the CPRF, Gennadi Zyuganov led the CPRF team during the wide-ranging discussions that were held on both international and national issues.  State secretariat member of the Bengal unit of the CPI(M), Mridul De was present during the discussions as was Alexander Melnikov on behalf of the CPRF central committee.

Surjeet briefly but analytically narrated the developments taking place in India as in the sub-continent.  Both leaders, Surjeet and Zyuganov agreed that post-Iraq aggression, the United States has redoubled its efforts to set up a uni-polar world. At the same time, the days and weeks since the occupation of Iraq has witnessed the burgeoning of the ongoing anti-imperialist struggles across the globe.

Exploring the Russian scenario, Gennadi Zyuganov said that under the Putin regime, the economic conditions of Russia had been fast deteriorating for quite some time now.  Black-markets have overwhelmed the economy. Hoarding is rampant. Food prices go up relentlessly. Employment goes on shrinking at an alarming rate. 

The level of income has gone drastically down.  “The number of men and women,” said the Russian Communist leader, “earning more than US$70 per month is now less than 50 per cent of the population, and the number is going down all the while.”

Zyuganov also said that the Russian economy in its entirety was made to subserve the interests of the Trans-national Corporations (or TNC’s).  “We,” said the Russian leader, “produce plenty of milk, bread, and meat, and yet, these very articles are being imported in huge quantities and at prohibitive prices during the Putin administration.”

Putin, said Gennadi Zyuganov, often spoke about suppressing the parallel economy, knowing fully well that the black market had long become a dominating part of the national economic scenario.  Russia is no longer able and willing to produce large plants and engineering units.  Planning itself has been allowed to go awry. 

The CPRF had repeatedly sent proposals to the Putin government about the ways and means of improving the Russian economy; it had also stressed on the need to strengthen the Russian social security system that had fallen badly in misuse. The government has gone on rejecting the proposals even as the political and social chaos in Russia has reached a dysfunctional state, said Zyuganov.

In the meanwhile, Chechen and other separatist ensembles have started a campaign of terror and mayhem in the major cities including the capital Moscow.  The Putin government tried to mollify the people by giving them a kind of assurance about suppressing the separatist groups and the mafia.  However, as the CPRF leader noted, the mafia was now a part of the administrative network itself and Putin was incapable of dealing with the underworld elements in a proper manner.

In this connection, it is useful to recall that on June 20, the CPRF, and its allies, brought a motion of no confidence against the Putin government in the Duma.  There were 172 votes cast against the government and 163 for.  However, since 163 of the 450 Duma members chose to abstain, the government could not be pulled down.

From December 2003 will begin the four stages of the nationwide election to the Duma.  The past ten years, said Zyuganov, had not seen a single free and fair election being allowed in Russia.  The successive governments have utilised both the administrative machinery and the media to the hilt to try to malign the opposition, especially the Communists before the electorate. They have also indulged in what Zyuganov called electoral malpractices widely. 

In the election campaign, the CPRF, and the Left, democratic and patriotic forces have unitedly called for an end to the misrule and for the political and economic regeneration of Russia.  The CPRF has started to seek public opinion by asking for definite answers (as distinct from the ‘yes/no’ form of the usual opinion poll surveys) to a set of questions that include such issues as

·        Social security, and security of life and livelihood;

·        Ensuring that a family is able to spend not more than 10 per cent of the family budget to meet the requirements of gas, electricity, transport, and communication;

·        Economic development; and

·        A drastic and comprehensive improvement of the law-and-order situation.

The questionnaire is printed in leaflet form and is carried by special editions of the daily Pravda.

A wide political programme is already underway to bring up the political consciousness of the people across Russia.  United movements and struggles adequately supplement the programme.  Several months back, Zyuganov informed Surjeet, all the Communist Parties of all the republics met and formed the  ‘union of Communist parties.’  The total membership strength of the Communist parties of the republics is over 1.5 million, said Gennadi Zyuganov.  The CPRF is currently engaged in uniting all the Left, democratic, and patriotic forces of Russia to build up a strong nationwide movement against the US hegemony over Russia and over the other republics. (INN)