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Question: It seems that during work on the federal budget
the federal government has tended to leave less money for regional
budgets than it did last year. Which side are you on in this dispute?
Yavlinsky: I'm on the side of the regions. I advocate
reducing the political power of governors and increasing their
economic might. The government should not produce regional barons.
Instead it should provide governors with sufficient economic leverage
to ensure a normal life in the regions. I think that the ratio
between the regional and federal budgets should be 50:50. For
example, your Governor Alexander Tkachev (Governor of Krasnodar
Territory - translator's note) knows better what to do with the
money. He is able to distribute the money more effectively. It
is better to give him the necessary money immediately than send
it to Moscow first and then try to get it back.
Recently the Land Code was adopted. Politicians in Krasnodar
Territory are absolutely against. Then how should the land relations
be regulated here? In my opinion it is necessary to stick to a
compromise: the federal centre should grant the regions the right
to freely trade in land and the regional legislative assemblies
should decide whether they need to use this right and to what
extent they need it.
Question: Why are people leaving Yabloko?
Yavlinsky: Only five people have left Yabloko lately:
one in Khabarovsk and four former state administrators in Moscow.
At the same time the party has attracted 6,000 new members. Everybody
knows that divorces sometimes happen in families. We have to accept
such facts with regret, but stoically. I think this is a normal
democratic process.
Question: Yabloko is thought by many analysts to be ideologically
far from the common people. What do you intend to do to bring
your ideology closer to them?
Yavlinsky: For the past ten years we have learnt to speak
so understandably that we will be understood in any village.
However, everybody knows that the first and second TV channels
form public opinion in Russia. And it has been officially decided
there that Yabloko should not have any access to the TV screen.
Even in a programme about fruit and vegetable they avoid pronouncing
the word "apple" (Yabloko means "apple" in
Russian - translator's note) - they will say: "a green thing
with pips inside." Unfortunately we still don’t have any
political freedom of speech. We have freedom of announcement.
And there are problems with freedom after announcements.
Question: Soon the election campaign for the Krasnodar
territorial legislative assembly will start. How does Yabloko
intend to participate?
Yavlinsky: As actively as possible. We have a year left
to prepare. We are expecting to score good results. The Chairman
of the Krasnodar territorial department of Yabloko Murat Akhedjak
has set up one of the largest and strongest organizations. We
have influential rivals here: the Krasnodar branches of Fatherland
and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. However, we
want residents of the territory to have a chance to vote for people
with democratic views as well.
Question: What is your attitude to the merger between
Luzhkov's Fatherland and the pro-presidential Unity party?
Yavlinsky: Yuri Luzhkov has noted that this alliance should
not be regarded from a sexual point of view. From a political
viewpoint these two parties are close relatives. And marriages
between close relatives are not advisable.
Question: Do you know what is behind the developments
surrounding Nikolai Aksenenko and Sergei Shoigu and their ministries?
Yavlinsky: Once Churchill was asked about his attitude
toward the outcome of the Great French Revolution. Although a
long time had elapsed, he still said, "I don't know."
I don't know whether it is s fight against corruption or a redistribution
of property or maybe some revenge. I know that these people actively
participated in the formation of the current government. Publication
of some facts has coincided with some party congress. In general,
this situation reminds me of Byzantium and its morals. But let
us wait and see what happens next.
Question: Does the spectre of the former Russian president
haunt the Kremlin like the ghost of Hamlet's father used to haunt
Elsinore?
Yavlinsky: This ghost is not the spectre of Yeltsin proper.
This is the ghost of the Politburo of the Central Committee of
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (KPSS). It may also be
viewed as the ghost of Iosif Vissarionovich (Stalin - translator's
note). We haven't defeated it completely yet. We still have a
bureaucratic system, which makes it possible to catch anyone and
declare him/her guilty. Unfortunately, Yeltsin failed to destroy
this system.
Question: What do you perceive to be the main role of
the democratic opposition?
Yavlinsky: You should not be afraid of opposition, as
it strengthens the state. It is not dangerous for the government's
fate. The democratic opposition sometimes slaps the government's
face, but at the same time it protects the state against coups
and undercover intrigues. Journalists should play the same role.
You are the very people who ensure the country’s security. If
you hide anything, as was the case after the Chernobyl disaster
and before the 1998 default, people will be left defenceless.
The mass media are also the media of mass security. This is the
role that journalists should aspire to take.
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