Newsletters / Constitution 2.0
Mikhail Khodorkovsky discussed the Russian Constitution in relation to the events of December 12, Russia’s Constitution Day:
Today, the Constitution is no more than a piece of paper – a sham symbol of federality, freedom and democracy. In practice Putin and his associates treat it however they see fit.
It’s been a year now since Open Russia began its discussion around the Russian Constitution. We must now go several steps further; working towards two distinct objectives with the help of a community of experts, we must firstly prepare a set of urgent amendments to the text of the existing Constitution, and, secondly, lay the foundations of a long-term project to devise the future constitution of a free and democratic country.
During a press conference on December 9, Mikhail Khodorkovsky answered questions from journalists gathered in Moscow and London. He commented on the current situation in Russia:
“Russian society must recognise that the country is witnessing an anti-constitutional upheaval. The return to a legal framework from a situation of this kind is called revolution, and it is inevitable. Revolution is a good word. It can and must be peaceful. To make it peaceful is the challenge we all face.”
The Open Elections project has a new manager Timur Valeyev. He described the project’s goals for next year:
“Our main objective will be to prevent any falsifications on next year’s single voting day, 18 September 2016.
Election monitoring is quite well developed in Russia, but it is frequently regarded simply as the process of recording infringements or voting results. We have found a method which will enable us to give opposition candidates a chance to show their real results.”