Stormbringer
The Brick and The Rose
A Toast
Two days ago the pro-Presidential Party, "Our Home is Russia", introduced a number of legislations into Duma. The first one would restructure the Russian executive branch, giving more power to the President instead of the Prime Minister, and in addition would strip the Duma of its power to apoing a Prime Minister and give it to the President, making the Prime Minister directly subordinate to the President.
"The sky is veiled with grey clouds
Nerves as tense as guitar strings
From night to morning rain is drumming
And time is frozen in eternity.
We assualt from all directions
Tanks, infnatry, artillery's fire
They are killing us, but we keep going
And once again we charge."
The second legislation would amend the Russian Constitution and would take away the power currently held by the subjects of the Federation, such as states, regions, etc. to elect the leader of the local executive government. This power would be transfered to the President, who would now be able to apoint local leaders with aproval of the local legislative branch. Only Autonomous Republics would retain the right to elect their own leaders.
"A toast to life, come on brother, until the end
A toast to those, who were with us back then
A toast to life, come on brother, until the end
We'll remember those who were with us back then"
The last piece of legislature would disband the Russian Security Council. The organization, which Duma had large control over, was composed of the top ministers who decided the fate of Russian Military Operations. Instead of this organization the control over Military is given to the President and his Security Committe which is apointed by the President without any Duma controls. The execution of the orders will go through the Central HQ, also an organization subordinate only to the President.
"The clouds above are made of lead,
The cold mist is all around,
We want to think that all is over
And if only the wounded comrade could survive...
Wait up bro, don't die yet
You will live long and happily
We will dance at your wedding
And you'll raise your kids up in the sky"
The opposition to these proposals came from the Left wing, with former Prime Minister Putin leading it. With slogans such as "Oppose Right Wing Extremism" and "Keep Russia Democratic" he attempted to unite the Left Wing democratic forces and for the most part succeeded. His "United Russia Coalition" was composed of the "United Russia", "Fatherland-All Russia", "Yabloko", and a number of smaller parties. The Communists, for lack of a better choice, also sided with Putin, although not officially joining his Coalition.
"A toast to life, come on brother, until the end
A toast to those who wait for you at home
A toast to life, come on brother, until the end
A toast to those who wait for you at home"
But Putin seems to have misunderstood the general mood of the public. As he went to appeal to them with his calls for "Democracy" and "Freedom" he only found the country in a Nationalistic frenzy with patriotic songs on the streets and every other house having a Russian Flag. No matter where he turned he was branded as a traitor. As the battle in Duma neared Putin's support waned.
"A toast to them, a toast to us
To Siberia and to the Caucasus
To the lights of far-away cities
And to friends, and to love
A toast to them, a toast to us
And to the Paras, and to the Spetznas
To war honors
Come on, lets raise it, friend"
Soviet-style posters begun to appear on the streets. 'Give 110% for the Motherland', 'What did you give your Country today?' and many others. The military begun to run camps and groups for the youth and military style cloths became the new fashion. More and more factories oepend again and the government begun to take an active role in the economy. The nationalistic industrial boom was coming to replace the free private enterprise boom that has carried Russia this far.
"A toast to life, come on brother, until the end
A toast to those who wait for you at home
A toast to life, come on brother, until the end
A toast to those who wait for you at home"
As the Duma battle came Putin made his last appeal to the public and to his former friends in the Duma. He almost went as far as to acuse the President of being a fascist but to no avail, the great popularity of Lebed assured the outcome, as Putin was seen more as a traitor than a champion of democracy. The right-wing parties easily carried the legislation through to the great disapointment of the United Russia Coalition.
"In an old album, I found a picture
Grandpa, commander of Red Army
Signed "For son to remeber, Berlin 1945"
Decades flashed back
The smell of unmawed grass in the dawn,
Moans of earth scorched from bombardements
A pair of old soldier's boots
New wars will replace the old ones "
The President signed the passed bills in his office in Kremlin the next day. He dismissed the Security Council and the Prime Minister and made the apointments the same day. In addition he authorized a number of new projects which the military was in charge of. It was clear that now the military was going to tell the civilians what to do. And all this was happening while a young National Socialist Party of Russia was taking its roots.
"A toast to life, come on brother, until the end
A toast to those, who were with us back then
A toast to life, come on brother, until the end
We'll remember those who were with us back then"
