Sergey Chuev: people went to Theatre Square because of sincerity, not for money of US State Department

In Rostov-on-Don, the meeting of the Expert Council of the political action club "November 4" discussed the possibility of "a colour revolution" in Russia and the political situation in the country and the protest actions after the elections to the State Duma held on December 4, 2011. According to the participants of the meeting, the majority of people, who came to the protest actions, sought dialogue with the authorities.

On February 7, Yuri Girenko, Ph. D. in History, the political analyst and the publicist, the political scientist Sergey Chuev, Chairman of the Committee on Youth Policy of the Rostov Region, and Ekaterina Stenyakina, the coordinator of the "Molodaya Gvardiya" (Young Guard) in the Southern Federal District (SFD) spoke as the experts at the meeting of the club.

"'Colour revolutions' have nothing in common with the events in Russia in 1917 and 1991. In this case, we are talking about a scenario of regime change. It needs the elite of the society, who wants to come to power. A leader is mandatory. It needs a critical mass of people, who are ready to go 'to Maidan', and an external support. Finally, it needs an information occasion, for example, the elections," the historian Yuri Girenko said during the discussion.

"The Russian middle class is ready for dialogue with the President and the ruling party. I do not believe that the students, who came to Theatre Square in December 2011, received US dollars from the US State Department; they were driven by their sincere feelings. However, the fact is that all protesters are united by negative content," Sergey Chuev believes.

"Most people came to Bolotnaya Square in Moscow for dialogue; however, young people are always easy to agitate," Ekaterina Stenyakina has agreed with Sergey Chuev.

According to her, the fact that such meetings are allowed proves the power of the authorities.

"In Russia, there are people discontented with the election results; however, at present it becomes fashionable to go to Bolotnaya Square. However, squares and streets are bad places for dialogue. The other option is possible: to execute 'a revolution', political technologists can run a long scenario, the success or the failure of which would depend on the actions of the authorities," Yuri Girenko believes.

"At present, the authorities are ready to respond not only to call for fair elections. The State Duma is to consider liberal laws, in particular, about the registration of parties," Sergey Chuev states.

Although, according to the political scientist, it will not render much help to the opposition. According to him, Russia will not have "a colour revolution"; however, the state should afraid of provocations from "orange political technologists".

"The authorities need to become more creative. Otherwise, revolution will be fashionable and it can contribute to crystallize a leader, whose name will be chanted in crowd in a square," Sergey Smirnov, Executive Director of the political action club "November 4".

"Our country simply ought to have no 'colour revolution', otherwise, the state would return to the original positions. However, in the modern world, a country without statehood is a loser. And Russia has no right to be a loser," Yuri Girenko has summarized.