his popularity switches and actually yeltsin becomes more popular then at least within russia. moscow in particular yeltsin becomes more popular than gorbachev so what was happening then at the time well events were spinning out of control at that time this was after the collapse of eastern europe of course this was when elections were beginning to happen in in the republics and non non communist movements were coming to power nationalist movements secession was on the agenda in multiple republics and violence had already occurred where so the problem that gorbachev you know faced and why he was kind of swept away was that he acted too late and he was always too late had he i think has run suggested earlier had he acted earlier to sort of contain some of the excesses of of nationalists and to to put some limits on glasnost some how to to prevent. you know the ways in which things ultimately escape control then perhaps he might have been able to ride this thing but as it as it you know it it developed it ultimately just became a tsunami that he couldn't control when you think ab

move after the coup and then the ultimate conspiracy the kind of coup that yeltsin and others carried out to destroy the soviet union as a state mark what do you think about that i mean the the loss of legitimacy could go ahead. yeah i was going to say i don't agree with ron on that i think by by the time that nine hundred ninety i think events had already gained a momentum that they were pushing not only to the disintegration of the soviet union but also i think they were pushing towards the the breakup of the communist party so by nine hundred ninety it's true that the party had had legalized its had legalized opposition activity. of course it's still a centrally monopolized power in moscow although in various republics other movements had essentially or were about to come to power. but it in fact i think that at that point in time the party was right on the edge of splitting into into pieces so there was this debate between the democratic platform which represented the reformist wing of the party and then there was the right wing of the party the conservatives and gorbachev was lef

well the initial stage ten or eleven years ago there was a striking contrast with the yeltsin era the last decade was marked by tough opposes fight against crime an attempt to pacify the caucasus or bring justice to those who are massed their fortunes unfairly alike could get others consolidation of territory his appointment of governors these were the measures we were quite satisfied with but in recent years these processes were put on hold in particular consolidation of territories. regions were removed from the map we believe that half of the regions should go russia should only have forty regions forty provinces each with a population of three to four million people in small regions should be incorporated into their bigger neighbors but that's not happening. at our course he's the only one in jail while many more need to be punished shouldn't be necessarily prison sentences but they should return the money into economy we're talking of hundreds of billions of u.s. dollars why were the budget funds about thirty percent channeled abroad between two thousand and eight and two thousan

collapsed economy spikey of them saw the republic of russia almost bound by decreed by president yeltsin a coup years later the party remerge to under the leadership of do not use uganda the painful transition from state run to unlocking to in the one nine hundred ninety s. some millions of russians into poverty many became this knowledge of the times of the soviet union when low prices in this. and wages were guaranteed by the state the communist party grew in popularity on the back of that sentiment throughout the turbulent nineties but the turn of the century so great economic stability in russia and the subsequent song in the party's approval ratings we had despite the ups and downs the party has seen its candidates always been second you know presidential elections since the fall of it was. seven decades israel communist still the soviet union accepted no rivals now they find themselves in a parliamentary election race with six other bodies including their major one and the ruling united russia party which won six times as many seats in the state duma four years ago. that it's hello

but actually it was not democracy with your own mass media under yeltsin yes they might have been more outspoken they published more critical reports down to d. but even back then they were under someone's control as a genuine liberal ideas were not put to life only some elements so western democracy were replicated then but they did not always get rooted in our soil and that's what happened a year you're saying russia has its own way but you are the patriots of russia and he had the right to do it thank you very much for being with us and just to remind you that i guess they was here that you seem a good leader of the patriots of russia political and that. the spotlight will be back with more common. i'm allowed to go on and outside russia and will also help you leave your leaders out russian political. say on party and take. a sixth. place. limo please please please technology innovation all the list of elements from around russia we've got the future covered. in taiwan the teas available in this type. piece how it pulls a hotel like the shirts inside the hotel hotel while shall his

they keep figures will engage in an open dialogue and debates i have personally invited president yeltsinput in an event of four debates today it's the communist party that defense . democratic foundations in this country while the regime relies on illegal activities and vote rigging now moving on to a different aspect our party decided to guarantee freedom of religion with its ranks about a third of our supporters i believe it is almost work as a vote for us and support our party also we think this should be multiple forms of property public property collective property and private property these three types should compete with each other but there is one thing you need to bear in mind if you want to introduce a free market economy along with the transcend beer and railway you will only be able to do so within the range of fifty kilometers from the railroad beyond this corridor our production costs will be so high that you won't survive without government regulation in the russian empire prime minister said gave it introduced takes transport rates of the regions of siberia and russia's f

one ski ran for the presidency twice he finished fourth in the ninety nine to six election won by yeltsin and he was third in two thousand when. when was elected over the years party so once a month in popularity in the one nine hundred ninety five speed to my election it gained as many as forty five seats in two thousand and three its representation in the duma was a town feel about the party made several attempts at forming coalitions with other woodrell movements but could never overcome differences with their counsel. in two thousand and eight same gamey true he became the albuquerque reader and his biggest challenge now is to get back into the state duma. hello mr mitrokhin welcome to spotlight there were first of all your party one of the oldest in russia sometimes called liberal sometimes social democratic sometimes something else what about you how do you define its. artificial positions. as a social liberal policy in the party and social liberal vs which of the world's prominent parties would you compare yourself to. there was a famous man living heart and made post-war germany o

affluence he ran for the presidency twice he finished fourth in the ninety nine to six election won by yeltsin and he was third in two thousand when. in was elected over the years the young party so was hope you are retained in the one nine hundred ninety five state duma election it gained as many as forty five seats in two thousand and three its representation and to do what was it can feel that the party made several attempts at forming coalitions with governor we've grown movements but could never overcome differences with their potential partners in two thousand and eight sergei mutual he became doubtful course reader and his biggest challenge now we still get your book back into the state duma. hello mr metron and welcome to spotlight on which there were first of all your party one of the oldest in russia sometimes called liberal sometimes social democratic sometimes something else what about you how do you define it or is not official position says that is a social liberal policy to govern the party some social liberal yes which of the world's prominent parties would you compare yourself

you mean by and griddled liberalism is it looks like the kind of democracy we had under president yeltsin guinean the really reforms no he doesn't really matter who's in power at the moment it could be also understands or it's an attempt to force liberalism on us today because so many positive things about the moral ideas for example democratic principles freedom a market economy so what do you oppose then we don't like the fact that liberal ideas are being used not in the interests of the whole nation but in the interests of a close group of people we saw that went almost all the national assets were handed all of that suit five hundred families they began to rob us and lead a russian the wrong way some say we had democracy under yeltsin but actually it was not democracy with your own mass media and surreal sent them with yes they might have been more outspoken they published more critical reports than to di but even back then they were under someone's control to bring the genuine liberal ideas were not put to life only some elements of western democracy were replicated then but they did

the thing is, i knew that boris yeltsin was now the russian president, and he needed all of the west's focus -- that u.s.-russian relations, you know, are not a casual thing. we have to be working on it all the time. and i knew that it would -- that it wasn't appropriate. and here's an example -- back to what you said about my grandfather's influence. i mulled that over very, very deeply for several days, and then suddenly, i remembered that after my grandfather left the white house, he did not go back to europe for two years because he wanted the kennedy administration to have an opportunity to establish foreign relations with european leaders. i mean, he could have justified going to europe, too. he'd worked with all of those people during the war. but he understood, as a patriotic american, that it was kennedy's show, and he should stay home. and that's what i thought gorbachev should have done. c-span: what do you think of mr. gorbachev? >> guest: well, i think he's actually rather a tragic figure. i think he probably shouldn't worry too much. his place in history is secure. he wil

current situation for our young people have been conformist for the past twenty years including the yeltsin era not so much and to yell sam now it's more time to think well most of them are conformist there appear bright young people if we recall the controversy with the recent visit of the president to the department of journalism and of the moscow state university and other cases when students begin to speak out for their rights these are emerging elements of healthy noncom firm as well as give us hope. so you mean there are about ten percent among the young people take for instance the youth branch of yabloko where do they come from their students who came to us as they like our stance and they want to protest and to realize themselves on the streets and we let them do that so you see the right people. some very popular in three intervals have left your party. advance and mitri away yasha why is it because your party is no longer in the duma. you know we have an ideology of our own. all those departures should be assessed accordingly. and have on scale left because they felt they had to

time this was offered was not just a year or two ago that can one thousand nine hundred two boris yeltsin offered the west joint missile defense and this is a story that's twenty years old so it's not at all surprising that russian leadership is slightly losing patience to say the least and he's on a puppet show live there in belgrade thank you very much indeed for your thoughts on this thank you thank you. thousands of egyptians are refusing to leave touch his square saying they're not satisfied with concessions being offered by the military council the army says a presidential election will be held by next summer but people want them now let's get more from marty's point of slim who is in current support are we seeing the same level of violence as we have in previous days now that. when the country in the last few minutes the government financier is gone i mean if not it's all chaos pandemonium has broken out that one of the just concentrated in mohamed mahmoud street just a short distance from the head we understand he said he firing live ammunition a number of fires have broken out in

yeltsin,he wanted to save his nation from an authoritarian past. when you have the chance to save a great nation like russia, even then you do not have the strength to resist the temptation of your addiction in that context, the addiction was-- was alcohol. this man who is finding himself incapable of doing the one thing that will find him as a world historical leader because of his dependency, it makes it easier to understand the dynamic we see instead of all sorts of institutions. congress. people going wanted to do the right thing. -- people go to congress and wanted to the right thing butthey cannot help but be inside this addiction to raising money. the one thing i would have done differently, many people drink because they like to drink. a better addiction is a cigarette. most people do not want to be addicted to cigarettes. they are. they cannot break it. that is a better picture. these and not people who love to raise money. they hate it. they hate it more and more. they do not want to change it. this system will eventually benefit them. it

lob landed there in the middle of the coup when yeltsin was rallying people and he went over there and came back around christmastime. he was ambassador to russia. he said i think i'm only fellow who was the ambassador to 12 countries. so that was -- i did not know that uncle bob had flown into a coup. i just knew he got me a pink cake for my seventh birthday. i began writing this book at the columbia journalism school. i took a book class with sam freedman, and i think that he -- where he made one of his biggest marks on history was on keeping the democratic hardy together from 1972 to 1976. those were the parties that were really torn apart in 1968 after the debacle of the convention and the assassination of rfk and martin luther king and the party was in vietnam and a number of issues. he came in and really held the party together, first as treasurer of the democratic national committee and then as chairman of the democratic national committee. the democratic hardy then looked a little bit like the republican party today in that it was very fractured and there was an extreme wing, t