Emilia Slabunova about Vladimir Putin’s interview with The Financial Times

Emilia Slabunova’s blog post, 29.06.2019

“An absolute liberal” renounced the liberal idea.

Wait for another trouble.

In January 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with a number of Russian and foreign television channels, said that he was “a real liberal” and “held liberal views”.

In December 2016, Press Secretary of the head of state, Dmitry Peskov, spoke in an even more definite way in an interview to the Mir television channel, “Putin is an absolute liberal by his nature, and a much bigger liberal than nominal liberals who call themselves “opposition”. According to Peskov, the President “is absolutely liberal in his economic approaches, social policy, and so on”.

It is impossible to find traces of liberal approaches, no matter how hard one might try, neither before nor after these words. After all, liberalism is about the priority of human rights and freedoms, free political and economic competition, public policy, functioning feedback channels, the rule of law, high quality education and health care, and environment.

Instead, we have growing nationalisation of the economy and financial sphere, barriers and fraud in elections, reprisals against political opponents, civil society activists and NGOs, reduction of the number of acquittals in courts, increased censorship, and the leftover principle in financing of education, science and culture.

What is left for Vladimir Putin to do, having read in a landmark document of Liberal International – Liberal Manifesto 2017 – the following task: “Deliver best access to health care for illness and disability”?!  Or another one: “Defend freedom of information, expression, and the media and the right to privacy”?! You have guessed right: avoid it like the plague.

When you can’t put liberal ideas into practice, all you have to do is to deny them. That is what Vladimir Putin did, stating in an interview with The Financial Times newspaper, “in my opinion, the liberal idea has become obsolete”.

What will follow? Further attacks on business, civil society, citizens’ rights. The liberals’ slogan “equal rights and opportunities for all” will now, probably, be assessed as an insult to the authorities.

What can be done? We should resist it! Make your voice louder! Join the only Russian party represented in Liberal International, the YABLOKO party.

#MakeYourVoiceLouder

Source

https://www.facebook.com/EmiliaSlabunova/posts/2129029044062169