Leonid Parfenov Speech At Bolotnaya Sqr. Protest In Moscow On 10 December 2011 #10dec #Russia

Leonid Parfenov is a well-known Russian broadcast journalist and author. Many of those who heard him speaking at the protest on 10 December 2011 in Moscow say that his speech was well thought out and very well articulated.

In his speech, Leonid Parfenov explaines how people can influence the state run broadcasting channels and what needs to be done to free Russian media from the rule of President's Administration. The original text of Leonid Parfenov's speech in Russian can be found in his LiveJournal blog.

Leoni Parfenov: First of all, to the election results. I have lived the half of my life in my home town in Vologda region, and the half of my life I live in Moscow, so I have an understanding of the frame of mind in these two cities. In the Vologda region the "United Russia" political party has received 33% of votes. Although the region is pretty reliable in its conservatism, this number didn't surprise me: I thought so, too - yes, a third of my countrymen would vote for the Soviet power, not more than this. Governor Pozgavel of Vologda region after the meeting with Surkov [Deputy Chief of staff of President Medvedev - PubliCiti.ru] could sincerely tell media that "we had a honest election, what could've I done?".

But it's hard to believe in those 50% of votes for "United Russia" in Moscow, a city that is so much un-unitary. Is Vologda finally much more liberal than Moscow? This is not just implausible, but this is laughable.

For the Presidential election I will get an absentee certificate and go visit my mother to vote there. There is hope, and my voice will be counted correctly.

Secondly, I would like to address those who call television a "zombie box". Those who think so are in majority? You are the ones who can push television to a change.

You can share the link of a video "You are the propaganda of Surkov" or you can share that image with a photograph of a TV anchor and the phrase underneath it - "There is a job - To lie every night". You can do it and you need to do it. They shouldn't get away with it. However, these are the joys of online networking.

According to Central election committee, the half of votes goes to the opponents of the ruling party. Yes, among other reasons people were voting for them as a protest. Yes, the principles of the system opposition are not flawless, and the Duma - where they used to sit in sessions - is that kind of the parliament. It's all the way it is. But let's start with the given.

If you value your votes and are not happy with television then demand from your Deputies that there is equally of authorities and their opponents in broadcast. Let them get together for a Duma committee where the authorities and their opponents are equally represented. And let this committee take action to free broadcast journalism from the administration of propaganda and agitation.

Why the Administration of President rules the information policy of broadcast channels, not even really hiding it? Who has chosen these officials? Whose mandate of trust fo the have?

By using our money, they teach us how to love our motherland? [On those channels] They show themselves to themselves. Do they think their countrymen are vegetables who are willing to watch those huge North Korean reports from the "United Russia" congress and news programs under the motto "This is all about him"!

To what extent should someone misunderstand the country so that there no sense of people who are annoyed by all that bawdry with amphorae, combine-harvesters and badmintons! For twelve years the television is praising the only one hero. Ok, the one and a half heros. It's like Zhvanetsky [Russian well-known humorist - PubliCiti.ru] said: "If I have one window in my room then what is its rating?". From the broadcast ratings grows the political rating. Only so, and not by any other means. But the eletcion has shown a need for change, progress, especially after it was suggested to us that we live today with the same hero as we had in the beginning of 2000s.

To understand what we want, how the country should change and what direction it should go, we need a civic dialogue which we didn't have all those twelve years.

We need a variety of opinions in broadcast, we need a real political competition, a contest of ideas. Only then new leaders will appear, and perhaps that miserable childish cry about Putin not having an alternative will come to an end.

In 1989 Gorbachev decided to broadcast the first Congress of deputies, so the new leaders emerged, Anatoly Sobchak [the first democratically elected mayor of Saint Petersburg - PubliCiti.ru] was one of them. Where would have been current authorities if there haven't been the political competition and the change of elites at that time? The wouldn't be any alternative to Nicolai Ryzhkov and Yegor Ligachev to this day, God bless them!

And the last. The motto "We won't forget, we won't forgive!" is definitely good. But it's not enough to yell it out on 5th to 10th of December.

The election is not an act of bravery that happens on a particular day when you vote the way you want.

It's your personal daily requirement to defend your interests and demand it from your deputies. A daily work is needed, unions of voters are needed, the unions that would express a common position.

We never had something like this. And the technology that connects a voter with a deputy while deputy's mandate is not developed in our country. And there is a fatal national feature that is a low ability to self-organization and self-discipline.

However, if today we will find out the next shameless rubbish from the television (by the way there are television busses all over this embankment) regarding Hillary Clinton who got all these people here via SMS distribution and that it's "all invented by Churchill in 1918" just to pull down Russia - then it would be necessary to repete "We won't forget, we won't forgive!".

"We won't forget, we won't forgive!"

PubliCiti.ru

Photo: dailytalking.ru