Nataliya Vasilyeva of the Associated Press pens and article titled Mikhail Gorbachev calls for a new vote in Russia in this article she writes that “Russian authorities should annul the parliamentary vote results and hold a new election, ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev urged Wednesday as popular indignation grew over widespread reports of alleged election fraud. Thousands of Russians have rallied in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the last two days, facing off against tens of thousands of police and Interior Ministry troops. Gorbachev told the Interfax news agency that authorities must hold a fresh election or deal with a rising tide of discontent. Sunday’s parliamentary vote suggested Russians are tiring of Putin and his United Russia party, which has dominated all other political forces in Russia for the past dozen years and earned a reputation for corruption.”
If her reporting is correct, does this not sound quite familiar? The people are beginning to feel more and more embolden as demonstrated by another piece of this same article. “Mariya Boyarintseva, a 24-year-old event manager, told The Associated Press that she has never been to a political rally before but she was going to Saturday’s protest. Boyarintseva said she didn’t go to rallies Monday or Tuesday in Moscow – which ended with clashes with police and hundreds detained – because “it felt a bit scary.”
“Now, I have a feeling that I ought to go,” she said.” This thing all started with a few in the Middle East and is now spreading all over the globe. People are beginning to understand that who were hired by the people or seeks to lead the people cannot lead if the people do not follow. The people are beginning to understand that the only real power anyone can wield is the power given to them by them and if they can give it, they can take it back.
Russia may be the next to learn about the true power of the people because things will always be the way the people want it. If they want corruption in their government, they will turn a blind eye on those who are corrupt but if they want good government, then they will rebel against the bad and keep fighting until the good is victorious. Reminds me of a certain American President who said that he looked into the soul of Vladimir Putin and saw a good man but one has to wonder if that good man was just a front and the real man has been discovered and rejected by those whom he wishes to govern. What we may be seeing is more than just an Arab Spring; it may be a re-make of Noah’s forty days and forty nights.