Syndicate: Moscow: "against all parties" campaign started

[Oleg Kireev <radek@glasnet.ru>]

non-governmental control comission
"AGAINST ALL PARTIES" campaigne

At first, we planned to send approximately such report on the net:

"Today the Non-governmental control comission opened the pre-electoral
campaigne "Against all parties". The campaigne has started with the
"Mausoleum" radical action. At 16 p.m. the NGCC's participants took their
preliminarily appointed places at the Red Square and in GUM (the central
Moscow supermarket) opposite to the Lenin's Mausoleum from where the
journalists' group planned to record all events. 

At 16.15 about twenty participants started to move to the Mausoleum and
crossed the closed space before it. A militioner on duty moved aside calling
for a support from his radio. The participants went up to the Mausoleum by
the stairway and fixed the slogan "AGAINST ALL PARTIES" right over the sign
"LENIN"* and started to scand the same words. After a few minutes a militia
car run to the place, and the Comission participants standing on the
Mausoleum were arrested and directed to the Central militia department. The
reports of the action were shown on all central TV and radio channels this
evening. The Non-Governmental control comission states that the "Against all
parties"* campaigne has begun". 

We cannot send such report. At 15.30 when we came to our arranged meeting
places the Comission participants discovered that the Red Square was blocked
despite of all long ago inspected schedules and was patroled by the
strengthened militia forces. There were even some buses with the OMON (the
special army forces) nearby the Historical museum. The present organizers
and journalists became certain they were under an attentive militia control.
 
After a short council the action was cancelled. In case of any, especially
unplanned, actions all the organizers could be arrested including those who
were to prepare the press-conference and to distribute the info of a start
of our campaign next days. Obviously, the militia was informed by someone of
our action plan, we didn't take proper care of the conspiracy. No doubt, Red
Square was blocked right due to the prepared action: militioners were coming
to the organizers many times warning they can imitate the disorders to
invoke the arrests, beatings etc. (but were becoming less agressive every
time some journalist was taking the dictophone or camera out for recording). 
These events force us to change the formulations about the action. Not the
Non-Governmental Control Comission committed an unplanned action, but the
militia due to the Comission's threat blocked the central space of the
capital for some hours unplannedly and mobilized big forces of Ministry of
Internal Affairs as if there were a terroristic act of muslim fundamentalists.
Nor the artists, critics and sociologists committed a political scandal, but
the power, by it's guarding dogs - the cops - did show its undefended sides
(if the corresponding organs worked normally, we'd be taken without any
noise and right on the place). All that allows us to state once again, that
we've assured ourselves in the rightness of the chosen methods (action as a
provocation, or a creation of particular political situation) and proclaim:
today the political campaigne of the Non-Governmental Control Comission
"Against all parties" has started. Friday, October, 16, we present the
program and make a press-conference in art-media-center "TV Gallery".

PRESS-RELEASE FOR THE PRESENTATION OF "AGAINST ALL PARTIES" CAMPAIGNE IN
TV-GALLERY

Non-Governmental Control Comission and "RADEK" journal declare the beginning
of our pre-electoral campaigne "Against all parties". 
	The purpose of our campaign is to make more than 40 per cent voters vote
against all parties on the parliament elections 1999. According to
Constitution, election results must be annihilated in this case and new
elections must be appointed. None of the parties which participated in the
failed elections would be able to run again. It will lead to a major change
in the political panorama and among the political actors. 

The election results, surely, can be forged by the Central Electoral
Comittee or the poiticians can find tricks how to avoid the Constitution. In
this case, "Against all parties" campaigne will show the real disposition of
forces anyway and the degree of electorate consciousness about the present
manipulations and lies, and will show the ways for further actions.
	Our position is a radical critique of the poitical representative system.
This system is based on speculations with democratic rhetorics and the take
over by political game professionals of the majority's rights. The compaigne
is oriented mainly to elections in Russia, but also raises more broad
thematics and we plan to widen it to some european states too (e.g.
Germany). The first period will consist of two strategies: a theoretical
explanation of our ideas (editing the "RADEK" journal, publishing books and
carrying out the mailradek project) and an application of new political
technologies through the provocative actions.

The *Against all parties* presentation will take place on Friday, October
16, at the media-art-center "TV Gallery" (Bolshaya Yakimanka, 6).

Phone/fax: 095 / 137 71 31
e-mail: RADEK@GLASNET.RU