In light of Putin’s current harsh rule which has many people afraid, former USSR’s kinder, gentler president Mikhail Gorbachev sang a ballad of love and peace at his own 85th birthday last week. Singing in the accompaniment of dissident musician Andrei Makarevich whose concerts have been cancelled for the past two years because of his support for Ukraine, Gorbachev sang in Ukrainian.
That very act was a political statement in itself.
Gorbachev continues to point fingers of shame at the Kremlin, urging people to rise against Putin’s iron rule. As he says:
Fear is very bad and very dangerous. When people are scared of the political power, things might turn out in the worst way. We need Glasnost [Gorbachev’s term for freedom of speech]. We need dialogue between society and those in power, especially dialogue about the most acute issues. I keep saying: We should not be afraid of our people.
From 1986 to 1991 Gorbachev served as General Secretary of the Communist Party and the first elected president of the USSR. He conducted many major democratic practices, known as Perestroika, in a final effort to save the Soviet Union. However, that proved impossible, and in 1991 the USSR ceased to be.
At his birthday celebration, Gorbachev surrounded himself with independent journalists, liberal politicians, and artists. Said Pavel Palazhchenko, Gorbachev’s aide and interpreter for 31 years:
In the last two years of economic crises and increasing tensions with the West, Mikhail Sergeevich [Gorbachev] has been growing more concerned about Russia’s future. That is why his critical statements are heard more and more often. He says publicly that the only way for Russia to recover is to restore true democracy.
[source: thedailybeast]
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