All news

Russia has difficulties with overcoming the Stalinist model

Gorbachev also believes that it's time to change the current system in Russia. “It must be destroyed. The system should be changed”

MOSCOW, February 8 (Itar-Tass) — Former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev regrets that the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) did not register Grigory Yavlinsky as a presidential candidate. He made this statement on the Dozhd TV channel on Tuesday.

“I have always gone to the polls. I voted for Grisha (Yavlinsky). I think it was necessary to register him,” he said, adding that the Supreme Court, which on Wednesday will consider Yavlinsky’s complaint “can teach us a good lesson” in this case.

Speaking about one of the opposition leaders Alexei Navalny, Gorbachev called him “a very interesting phenomenon and promising person.” The former USSR head said, however, that so far he does not see him as a future president of the country. “He’s as green as grass, but when he is ripe, the drink will be worthy of the gods,” he stressed.

Concerning presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov the former Soviet president said: “I think it’s worth voting for him.”

Gorbachev also believes that it's time to change the current system in Russia. “It must be destroyed. The system should be changed,” he said, adding that the government would do “everything possible for appeasement...” In addition, in the view of Gorbachev, “one who claims the presidency must say that by the end of the year he will dissolve parliament.”

The former Soviet president also urged the government to return the right to elect the governors to the people. “We need to adjust it to the existing experience,” Gorbachev suggested, noting that “we are overcoming time linked with the Stalinist model, with the Communist era in general, with difficulty.”

Answering a question about his attitude to rallies, Gorbachev said that they have brought together the people who had something to say. “We must carry through to the end this responsible, historic-scale dialogue in order to overcome this period of our very hard life. Let’s not miss this chance,” he concluded.