Putin has simply taken up the instruments of control engineered by Yeltsin tal, which reduced the city to rubble, and the general terrorisation of the civilian population revealed the lengths Yeltsin was prepared to go ensure Kremlin rule.
The high loss of life on both sides rendered the war deeply unpopular among the Russian people and, combined with the catastrophic decline in living standards resulting from 'shock therapy', reduced Yeltsin's popularity single figures by the beginning of 1996.
His re-election as president was placed in serious jeopardy, especially as the Communist Party was also resurgent. Some in Yeltsin's ranks, democrats that they were, suggested cancelling the election but there was another solution.
Fortunately for Yeltsin, a band of knights in tarnished armour was at hand to rescue this seemingly irretrievable situation: the 'oligarchs'.
Along with the impoverishment of the bulk of the Russian people, Yeltsin's other major economic achievement was to enable the emergence of a tiny group of billionaire capitalists who gained the most lucrative sectors of the economy at knock-down prices.
Not surprisingly, their gratitude knew no bounds and, through their control of the mass media and virtually limitless financial support, they orchestrated Yeltsin's re-election in July 1996.
His position secure, the Chechen war temporarily at an end, and his health improved after heart surgery, Yeltsin began to use his office increasingly for personal gain. The figure who had once railed against the depravity of communist party bureaucrats became himself the centre of a web of corruption. He just about survived the financial crash of August 1998, although some of his allies didn't, and the weakness of parliament prevented communist attempts to impeach him. His final acts were to appoint and then anoint his successor, Vladimir Putin, whose popularity soared as war was unleashed yet again against the Chechen people.
Ultimately, Yeltsin's career reveals a common thread of populism in pursuit of power, for its retention at all costs, and for reaping the rewards of such power.
While, briefly, Yeltsin was able to embody popular strivings for a more democratic socialism, he never articulated a coherent programme. Even his adoption of liberalism was superficial - liberal intellectuals formulated his policies - and when they became unpopular he switched to a more nationalist approach.
He designed a constitution to prevent any challenges to his position while overseeing the collapse of the Russian Lipman's claim that Putin has destroyed Yeltsin's political achievement is incorrect - Putin is simply using the instruments engineered by Yeltsin to stifle dissent and ensure the Kremlin's domination. That is his legacy. Liam McUaid It was apt that news of Nicolas Sarkozy's victory was greeted by small riots in a number of French towns. These first expressions of popular anger are only the first of the innumerable conflicts that we will see during his presidency. The semi-fascist JeanMarie Le Pen lost almost one million votes in the first round. Most of these went to Sarkozy. His rhetoric against immigrants, in favour of the strong state and French national identity was calibrated to steal Le Pen's votes. It worked.
Neither has Sarkozy hidden his enthusiasm to begin Thatcherite counter-revolution in French society. His economic programme is that of the MEDEF, the French employers' organisation.
A central theme of his election campaign was his loathing of the thirty-five hour week. This was his clarion call to the millions of small business people and the managers of the big companies.
He was telling them that he is willing to open up an intense class struggle against French workers and their unions. He wants to introduce secret ballots for strikes like we have in Britain and is even looking to introduce no strike deals in some industries.
Sarkozy had powerful support inside and outside France. He was the favoured candidate of the private TV stations. The French industrial elite was behind him. Britain's New Labour gave him enthusisatic support. The day after the results were announced Blair sent the French Tory a congratulatory video via You Tube. He sees in Sarkozy a fellow travelling neo-liberal.
By contrast the support given to Segolene Royal of the Socialist Party by Brown or Blair was negligible. Royal's defeat was not as devastating as had been widely predicted. Many milSarkozy was the favoured candidate of the private TV stations and the French industrial elite lions of French voters supported her right-wing social democratic platform as a way of protecting themselves from Sarkozy.
In 2002, the radical left won 13.5 percent of the vote. This year the left of the left experienced an impor tant drop in its support, since it totaled this time a little less than 9 per cent (4.1 percent for Besancenot of the Ligue Communiste Revolutionaire, 1.9 per cent for Marie-Georges Buffet of the Communist Party, 1.4 per cent for Arlette Laguiller of Lutte Ouvriere, and 1.3 per cent for Jose Bove).
The Greens only got 1.5 per cent. The drop is due to a collapse of the electorates of the CP, LO, and the Greens.
Only Olivier Besancenot maintained his result in percentage terms and improved it in terms of the number of votes (with more than a million and a half compared to 2002.
Daniel Bensaid writes "He certainly lost a good third of his electors of five years ago, who had voted for him for the novelty of it, and bitterly regretted it when they saw Le Pen in the second round. On the other hand he solidly established his vote in the working-class regions and milieux, and according to the first indications, he got results among new young electors which were markedly higher than his national average." This is immensely important. Elected on a programme of anti-working class struggle, Sarkozy will be obliged to throw down the gauntlet to workers, youth and immigrants in It is absolutely certain that we will see a large number of defensive fights as workers try to protect their jobs and their working conditions.
The vote for Besancenot shows that there are hundreds of thousands of people who understand that a militant leadership is required.
As Olivier Besancenot said in his statement after the election "we need a new anti-capitalist force, implanted in the workplaces, the public services and the popular districts. It is necessary to make it possible to win against the right and the MEDEF in the struggles and in the ballot boxes."
The success or failure of this struggle will be of vital importance to the French and the European working class.
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Norman Traub Libya
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