Conversation with the politician. Part 3

Part 3. Major renovation

G.Ch.: In the third and final part of the dialogue, let's talk about what all this is for. Not about "we will destroy the world of violence to its foundations," but about "then." "We are ours, we will build a new world" — what kind of world? To what extent do our views on a "properly organized" Russia coincide? And most importantly, let's see what the range of opinions on this subject is among our readers.

The blog post is too short to lay out or even outline a program for remaking the country, but at least let's try to determine priorities.

What problems in the country do you consider the most pressing, requiring immediate "repair"? Don't list everything, or we'll bog down. Let's say five, but the top priorities.

Assume that honest elections have already taken place in the country, a legitimate parliament and president have been elected. What should we tackle first?

Let's see if my "five" matches yours.

1. Make Russia a parliamentary (not presidential) republic; limit one's time in power to two five-year terms with no possibility of future elections. For a country with a traumatic experience of dictatorship and authoritarian regimes, this precaution seems necessary to me.

2. Radically change the personnel and principles of operation of law enforcement agencies. In their current form they are ineffective and discredit the state. I don't know how to approach this practically, not a specialist. But it's clear that the "cleaning" must happen from the top down — the fish rots from the head.

3. Raise the prestige of the judiciary, which in the Putin years has sustained monstrous reputational damage. For this, punish particularly tainted judges and significantly update the judiciary.

4. Prohibit under threat of criminal liability intervention by representatives of the executive branch in the editorial policies and actions of the media. Democracy will not function properly if the press is dependent on the state.

5. Carry out a proper military reform. In its current form the country looks poorly protected from potential threats. The army should be made fully professional, high-tech, and military service should be a prestigious and desirable profession. And the reform should be undertaken not by current generals.

"Five points", of course, are not enough. And "tens" would be not enough either. I'm sure readers in the comments will significantly supplement the list. But now the floor is yours.

A.N.: Before speaking about the five directions of "repair", it is important to state the basic idea on which the "reformers" should rely.

We have many brigades, each with its own plan of work, but nothing is getting done.

I am deeply convinced that people who came to power through elections should rely not on ideological dogmas, but follow moral norms, believe in people and common sense.

I am convinced that people are capable of making independent correct decisions, and deserve to be trusted, and not be imposed from above some "correct" agenda.

Not just some people in general, but quite specific, currently living, citizens of Russia.

The main slogan of all reforms at the moment should be: "Don't lie and don't steal".

Dismantling the existing corrupt, authoritarian, senseless and inefficient model is not a one-day or one-year job. But I have no doubt that if there are 20, or better 50 top officials who will be guided by this principle, changes will be rapid and quite noticeable.

This is the only realistic path.

Let's move on to specifics.

1. First and foremost, the creation of the judiciary is obvious. No other reforms can be implemented without its creation. No fight against corruption will work. No new parties will help, and newly elected governors will be just as bad.

Note: "creation", not reform or, even more, "raising the prestige". Here I categorically disagree with you on the wording. You cannot raise the prestige of what does not exist. How to raise the prestige of Judge Borovkova?

These people are not judges at all, but a "cleansing subdepartment". The authorities, society, and they themselves understand themselves this way.

A humane society needs a fair mechanism for resolving disputes. There must be a place where conflicting groups are judged, where justice can be achieved.

If there is no such place in the country, then nothing else will be.

70% of judges now are former court secretariat employees. The rest, mainly, from police and prosecutors. These are people who are relatively trained in procedural matters, but equate delivering justice with carrying out the will of the authorities. They have not seen anything else besides working this way.

Judges should be the bulwark of the law, but also of ethics, morality and integrity. "He is a judge" should be spoken with respect and reverence.

And now they are discussed in the context of "you see, at a salary of 80 thousand, he bought a new jeep".

Judicial independence, their electability (even for magistrates and district judges), a full jury trial and the Constitutional Court, to be frank, all of this are real enemies of the current government.

If you look carefully at your five points, you will realize that implementing any of them will immediately encounter questions of courts and justice, and that is where we must start.

2. Reform of power. It can be called constitutional reform, if you like. The Constitution of the Russian Federation should be amended in such a way as to make impossible the reproduction of autocracy in the country: tsars, general secretaries, presidents. No one in Russia — neither a party nor a person — should have a monopoly on power.

Yeltsin used this constitution to usurp power and to use it for the comfortable existence of himself and his family. Now the same is being done by Putin, fabulously enriching loyal clans.

The federal center and, above all, the president should share power, redistributing it to where people live — to cities and settlements.

Local power should take key decisions in daily life: from funding local schools and hospitals to banning smoking in public places; from the size of the sales tax to local law enforcement issues (local police, domestic crime, etc.); from the size of fines for traffic violations to the color of building facades and roof tiles on houses.

I see no slightest problem with that local life rules differ significantly between Moscow and Vladivostok. In Makhachkala they'll fine topless sunbathers, in Yekaterinburg they will ban parking on the left side of streets, and in Nizhny Tagil they will allow selling vodka within the city limits.

The country is large — everywhere has its own specifics.

Note — it's not our dubious governors who should be given more power, but the level below: mayors, city and village councils. This, among other things, reduces the likelihood of separatism, which has become a political boogeyman — there will be no regional tsars that everyone fears.

To prevent the emergence of local, city tsars, one must absolutely exclude the possibility of political manipulation: moving election dates, extending/reducing powers, denial and removal from registration of candidates, controlled electoral commissions and other technical tricks, masterfully mastered by our civil service.

If at the local level a conflict arises that cannot be resolved on the spot — see item one: everyone goes to court, and a federal judge determines how it should be.

Power reform should mean returning to citizens the right to decide their own fate and the fate of their city. It is necessary to restore and simplify the institution of direct democracy (referendums) at the municipal level, restore the principle of electing mayors and governors.

The issue of censorship and interference in the work of the media, which you are writing about, relates to power reform. Obviously, the media is not just a business, but also a crucial public function.

Censorship is currently formally prohibited; we simply need to restore the meaning of the words.

Imprisonment for censorship and blacklists is not the most difficult criminal offense. Punishment should also be imposed for paid articles, especially those containing political defamation. Journalists, editors, and media owners should be disqualified for both censorship and paid articles.

Seriously restrict both the state and oligarchs in their ability to own media, including at the local level: a local oligarch, owner of a regional enterprise, should not have the opportunity to buy up all local newspapers.

3. Law enforcement reform. The most important thing, but largely derivative in relation to the creation of the judiciary.

Here the same problems: basically there is not a single law enforcement agency in the country — the entire system is set up to defend thieves and swindlers from taxpayers.

What use is it that half the country wears uniforms, if Russia is among the top three countries where the most murders occur (UN data).

Let there be 100 times fewer police, but they will protect citizens, not fabricate paid criminal cases.

A radical, not cosmetic, reform of the MVD and the FSB.

How to approach this is clear: there are many examples, both positive and negative. And quite new (Georgia), and with a long history (USA, Hong Kong, Singapore).

4. A nationwide anti-corruption campaign. It is clear that its elements objectively exist in the items "judicial system" and "law enforcement reform", but it must be a substantive, topic-specific anti-corruption campaign. So that society sees and feels it. With showy (but justice-based) trials and arrests. With uprooting all these families, linked by Gazprom on one side and the FSB on the other.

With the restructuring of the economic and political relationships that gave rise to “cushy jobs.” With a radical restriction of the distributive function of the bureaucracy and the imprisonment of those who have already abused this function.

With the inevitability of punishment, so that every citizen knows for sure: bribes in Russia lead to prison, and the words "law and order" are not an abstraction.

That is, turn on the "hot iron mode ON".

These are the main things I think it's very important to say at the very start of our conversation.

But please understand that, in general, ranking problems by their importance seems meaningless to me. It will sooner or later lead us to a primitive discussion: what should come first — accessible and high-quality education for all or a capable and effective army?

From my point of view, creating a judiciary that fairly resolves disputes between citizens and groups and political reform of power will provide the ground on which we can build our state in the modern world.

Let's discuss other issues as well, without their unnecessary ranking.

G.Ch.: Right now the “rating” is not needed to solve pressing problems first and foremost, but rather secondary and tertiary ones. Our dialogue is an invitation to public discussion. And what interests me most (and I am sure you too) is the opinion of the people who read this. As a politician, you need to know which issues people consider to be priorities. So here is what I propose. We have both expressed our opinions. Now let's give our readers a chance to have their say.

LiveJournal's poll allows up to 15 options. We currently have six between us (I still insist that guarantees of media independence are a problem separate from constitutional reform). I will add four more problems myself that did not fit into the "Top-5", though they are incredibly important. I am leaving you four more points. No need for arguments, or else our post will become gigantic. It's enough to list them. And we'll leave one position empty.

So, my contribution:

Reform of the healthcare system. This goes without comment, doesn't it?

Pension reform. The elderly should not be poor. This is a disgrace of the country.

Moving away from a “raw materials” economy.

Revival and development of the country's scientific potential. Without this the previous point is impossible.

Now you add yours.

A.N.: Okay, then in “telegraph style” in addition to what you have already indicated.

Deregulation and debureaucratization. Elimination of archaic or corrupt rules and procedures. In New Zealand construction permits are issued in a week; here it takes two years. For expensing travel costs to cost of production, a stamp on travel authorization is still required!

Optimization of management of state-owned property, primarily through first-class corporate governance standards in companies under state control and influence. In our country companies under state control — this accounts for 53% of market capitalization for the top-90 largest companies, and everywhere there's monstrous mess and theft. Using long-standing rules and procedures will significantly improve the situation in the short term.

Ordered migration instead of illegal. Abolish mandatory registration in other regions for citizens of the Russian Federation, ban discrimination by place of residence or registration for citizens of the Russian Federation. At the same time, introduce a visa regime for Central Asian countries, from which the largest number of illegal migrants come. Want to come to work? Please: permit, insurance, visa, guaranteed minimum wage.

Returning education (secondary, vocational and higher) to the function of a social elevator. Wherever you look — university. Everyone with a higher education diploma walks around, their money has no price. Where you studied and how you studied doesn't matter. The diploma pasted on the wall should have value, not in the sense of bribery for admission, but in the sense that it took effort to obtain, and it gives a lot.

G.Ch.: Well, now we need to see what "repair plan" the readers propose. Vote, speak up, add points and problems. We'll work out a program all together.

In my blog, only members of the "Noble Assembly" community can comment, but Aleksey Navalny's blog is open. I also hope that the Echo of Moscow site will reprint this part of the dialogue after the two previous ones. There you can also express yourself.

(you can choose up to 5 points)

Poll #1809416 Repairing Russia

Open: For Everyone, Detailed results visible: For Everyone. Participants: 6614

What is the most important?

Show answers

Constitutional Reform 2902 (9.2%)

Judicial Reform 5433 (17.2%)

Guarantees of Media Independence 2143 (6.8%)

Law Enforcement Reform 3658 (11.6%)

Army Reform 1163 (3.7%)

National Anti-Corruption Campaign 3365 (10.6%)

Healthcare System Reform 1272 (4.0%)

Pension Reform 951 (3.0%)

Move Away from an 'Extractive' Economy 2364 (7.5%)

Revival of the country's scientific potential 1614 (5.1%)

Deregulation and Debureaucratization 2234 (7.1%)

Optimization of state-owned property management 836 (2.6%)

Ordered migration instead of illegal 1406 (4.4%)

Education system reform 1857 (5.9%)

Major problems not named • 401 (1.3%)