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On Friday the State Duma once again proved loyal to President
Putin and voted overwhelmingly in favour of his proposal to reinstate
the Stalin-era Soviet anthem. The tsarist-era flag and coat of
arms were also officially adopted in the same session. The resurrection
of the Soviet anthem has caused an outburst of protest among Russia’s
liberals.
The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, backed
President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to restore the anthem after
its third and final reading by 381 votes to 51. The idea has provoked
anger among liberals and revived memories of the country's bloody
history.
The tricolour flag was approved by 342 members of the 450-seat
chamber while 343 members backed the double-headed eagle coat
of arms. Both ensignia date from the tsarist era.
The rousing anthem, for which Putin has commissioned new words,
generated the most controversy. It was originally composed by
Alexander Alexandrov in 1943 when much of European Russia was
under Nazi occupation. It was personally approved by the Communist
dictator Josef Stalin.
Nine years after the collapse of communism, Russia has been living
without an official crest, flag or hymn. Its current double-headed
eagle, the red-white-and-blue tricolour and an arcane 19th-century
tune have been no more than temporary stand-ins. Putin, keen to
boost Russia's nationhood, has asked the State Duma lower house
of parliament to resolve the issue quickly by backing his proposal
to reinstate the old Soviet anthem along with the imperial emblem
and the tricolour.
The notion of restoring the music of an anthem approved by Josef
Stalin has enraged liberals who have called for a complete break
with the Soviet era as a mark of respect for the millions of victims
of his totalitarian rule.
"We are certain this is a serious political mistake,"
Grigory Yavlinsky of the Yabloko party told NTV television. "It
is our duty to ensure that this does not happen." As debate
got under way, Yabloko party activists gathered outside Moscow's
main post office, urging passersby to send telegrams to Putin
denouncing the president's proposals. The debate also raised the
ire of former President Boris Yeltsin, who said Putin, the man
he chose as prime minister and his preferred successor in 1999,
should act on public opinion and ensure a new anthem was composed.
Restoring the anthem will please the communists, the Duma's largest
group. Observers say that despite their aversion to imperial panoply
Putin's laws seem likely to pass easily and Russia will begin
2001 with old-new symbols of statehood.
"Unbreakable Union" tune by Alexander Alexandrov, composed
at the time of some of the bloodiest battles of World War Two.
Putin defended the restoration of the anthem in a television address
this week, saying his choice of symbols was meant to unite Russians
by taking the best from their tumultuous history. He said he had
the backing of Russians.
Yeltsin stepped into the fray on Thursday to make a rare jab
at his hand-picked successor. The former president quoted Anatoly
Chubais, a longtime Kremlin adviser and now head of a giant power
utility, in saying it was immaterial that opinion polls showed
many Russians favoured the old anthem.
"Chubais was quite right on this score: the president of
a country should not blindly follow the mood of the people. On
the contrary, it is up to him to actively influence it,"
he said in an interview to the mass-circulation daily Komsomolskaya
Pravda. Putin said he would not be fazed by the comments.
In the likely event of the old Soviet tune being approved on
Friday, the stirring melody will have to remain wordless for some
time while famed children's poet Sergei Mikhalkov re-writes the
lyrics, for the third time in his life.
Mikhalkov, who wrote the original "An unbreakable union
of free republics the Great Russia has sealed" in 1943, amended
the lines after Stalin's death to drop any mention of the dictator.
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