DUSHANBE, October 10, 2011, Asia-Plus — Vladimir Putin’s proposal to create a “Eurasian Union” is nothing more than a public relations move before Russia’s presidential election slated for March 2012, Usmon Soleh, head of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s public relations department, told Asia-Plus Monday afternoon.
According to him, Putin is trying to play the Soviet Union restoration sentiment of the electoral majority, “but it is impossible to restore the Soviet Union in its previous form.”
“Many rights of ethnic minorities had been violated in the Soviet Union and the national republics had not been able to make any decision without coordination with Moscow,” Soleh noted.
At the same time, he added that economic integration of the former Soviet republics “that my play a positive role in further development of them” could not be ruled out.
Leader of the Communist Party of Tajikistan (CPT) Shodi Shabdolov, who is also deputy of the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) also suggests Putin’s proposal to create the “Eurasian Union” is just a pre-election PR move and an effort to boost the authorities’ popularity by tapping into society’s nostalgia for the Soviet Union.
“Persons who have found fault with the Soviet Union over the past twenty years suddenly began to speak about unification. This makes one put on his guard. If Putin considers that after voicing of his idea about creation of the Eurasian Union everyone will go to unite, he is mistaken. First of all it is necessary to decide on principles of creation of a supranational union,” said Shabdolov. “It is plain to everyone today that nobody wants to unite on the basis of predatory principles of Chubais and Deripaska.”
In the meantime, the first deputy chairman of the Islamic Revival Party (IRP) Saidumar Husaini, who is also deputy of the Majlisi Namoyandagon, considers that Putin’s idea is quite a pragmatic.
“When many countries create various alliances or unions for the good of their peoples and development of society, the idea of Russian prime minister seems quite pragmatic,” said Husaini, “It is necessary to take into account the sincerity of such statements.” Besides, it is necessary to respect an equal participation of the sides while creating such unions, he added.
The Social-Democratic Party (SDP) leader Rahmatillo Zoirov says Putin’s idea to create the Eurasian Union is timely, “but the Russian premier does not demonstrate mechanisms of implementation of his idea.”
We will recall that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week called for the “Eurasian Union” of former Soviet republics along the lines of the European Union. Mr. Putin, who recently announced he is running for president, said the bloc would become a major global player. He said Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan were already going ahead with economic integration.
However, he denied proposing to re-create the Soviet Union, saying a new bloc would have different values. “There is no talk about rebuilding the USSR in one way or another,” he said in an article in the daily newspaper
Izvestia
on October 4.
“It would be naive to try to restore or copy something that belongs to the past, but a close integration based on new values and economic and political foundation is a demand of the present time.” He said the “Eurasian Union” would build on the experience of the European Union and other regional coalitions.
Putin said the aim was to “create real conditions to change the geopolitical and geoeconomic configuration of the entire continent and have an undoubtedly positive global effect.”
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan have already formed an economic alliance that removes customs barriers. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have said they are studying the possibility of joining the scheme.
Russia has long called for stronger cooperation between ex-Soviet nations. However, earlier attempts at forging closer ties have failed because of sharp economic differences.
Russian experts say Putin”s rating is still high, running about 70 percent, although it is down from the 85 percent approval he enjoyed in 2008. United Russia”s ratings fell to record lows of below 40 percent in June this year.
