Ɖ Gardịn vy on Grbaćov’z leġsi: ɖ hop indyrz
(Transcription of an editorial published in the Guardian on Wednesday 31 August 2022)
Ruśa’z post-Sovịt xperimnt in dmocṛsi feld, bt ɖ drīm v its p’liticl frīdm mst b prizrvd
Wnzde, 31 Ōġst 2022
Ɖ Cremlin hz bn unśur hǎ t marc ɖ deʈ ɖs wīc v Micaīl Grbaćov, ɖ man hu z seḷbretd wɖt hezteśn in ɖ wst fr hiz rǒl in heṣnñ ɖ end v ɖ cold wor. In Ruśa, ivnts līdñ t ɖ c’laps v ɖ Sovịt Yńn r ofiṣ́li nretd az a naśnl c’laṃti, or nt at ol. Ɖ los v sūṗpǎrsteṭs z an inɉri ɖt Vladīmir Pūtin hz md it hiz lîf’s wrc t rvrs.
Mr Grbaćov dd nt intnd fr hiz dmocṛtîzñ rformz t dzolv ɖ YSSR. In sm formr Sovịt rpublics h z rmembrd mor az a rpresr v pro-indipndns muvmnts ɖn az a liḅretr. Ivnts ran awe fṛm him. Ɖ Ruśa ɖt wz born fṛm Sovịt ruin wz nt a crīćr v hiz dzîn, n ɖ fełr v its subsiqnt xperimnt in p’liticl frīdm tentd hiz leġsi. Fr mni Ruśnz, ceos n criṃnaḷti cntaṃnetd ɖ consept v dmocṛsi. Mr Pūtin capiṭlîzd on ɖt disiluźnmnt t rstor oʈoṛterịnizm wɖ a nio-Sovịt, naśṇlist inflex́n, v ẃć hiz mrdṛs asōlt on Ycren z an xpreśn.
Mr Pūtin z a product v CGB trenñ md dubli sinicl bî post-coḿnist cleptocṛsi. Ɖ slf-srvñ lénz h aplîz t peṛstrôca n glasnost – Mr Grbaćov’z poḷsiz v ic̣nomic n p’liticl opņis – z nt a vy ɖt nīdz eni simṗʈi fṛm ɖ ǎtsd. Fr ol ɖ subsiqnt dis’pôntmnts n msjujmnts, ɖ ambiśnz v īst-wst recnsilieśn fr ẃć Mr Grbaćov wz lōdd oṿsìz, n ɖ glims v a brîtr fyćr ɖt h gev t a jeṇreśn, r moṛl acumpliśmnts ɖt stand ɖ tst v tîm.
Ɖ contrast wɖ ɖ preznt Cremlin incumbnt cd nt b mor starc. Mr Pūtin dz nt mirli rjct dmocṛsi fr fir ɖt an impǎrd popyḷs mt rmuv him fṛm ofis. Ɖt wd b a pragmatic cnd v desṗtizm, dspicbl bt amīṇbl t dipḷmatic cntenmnt. Īvn bfr Mr Grbaćov, ɖr wz scop fr stṛtījic daylog btwn wstn līdrz n ɖer Sovịt cǎnṭparts. Rleśnz wr frosti, bt raṣ́nl.
Mr Pūtin dspîzz p’liticl libṛlizm wɖ a qāzi-rlijs frvr n vyz ɖ ǎtsd wrld wɖ paṛnôd spît. H z nt, t flip Marġrit Ʈaćr’z asesmnt v Mr Grbaćov, a man wɖ hūm biznis cn b dn, olɖo nr cn h sefli b ignord.
Ɖt z a probḷm fr wstn poḷsi mcrz n a sors v ic̣nomic pen fr dmocṛsiz ɖt wr fr tù loñ cmplesnt abt ɖ caṛctr v ɖ Ruśn stet. Ɖ dsiźn ɖs wīc bî Gazprom, Ruśa’z stet eṇjicumṗni, t śut dǎn its mn Nord Strīm 1 pîplîn t Yṛp z a rmîndr ɖt ɖ Cremlin’z militri agreśn agnst Ycren hz a secnd frunt – a wor v ic̣nomic atriśn agnst evriwn hu standz in soḷdaṛti wɖ Cyīv.
Ɖr z olso a homfrunt – ɖ sisṭmatic grîndñ awe v ẃt litl sivl ssayti, p’liticl frīdm n mīdia indipndns wz left in Ruśa fṛm ɖ efḷresns v ɖoz ʈñz in ɖ afṭmaʈ v ɖ Sovịt c’laps. Sadli, ol tù mni Ruśnz r in fl ʈrōl t ɖ Pūtin cult, bt a mnoṛti si its tru nećr. Sm rmembr ɖ riaḷti v Sovịt rpreśn. Ɖe d’nt śer ɖer prezidnt’s nstalja fr it. Sm wr tù yuñ t rmembr ɖ advent v frīdm in 1991, bt wś it wd dōn agn. In ɖm rzîdz a hop ɖt ɖ îdīa v a deṃcratic Ruśa z nt berid wɖ Micaīl Grbaćov.
