Social Protests May Spiral Into “Left Terror” in Ukraine, After the Ultra-Right Kiev Bans Communist and Left Ideology
by Fort Russ
Translated from Russian by Alexey Tatu
The prohibition of all propaganda related to Communist ideology in Ukraine is tied directly to the fear of the Kiev authorities of a threat of social protests, this was stated in Kiev on April 10, by political expert Aleksey Bluminov.
According to the expert, the government in Kiev has shown poor economic results, which naturally leads to an increase in social protests in the country.
“The ban of the Communist, and in fact, any left-wing ideology, and the establishment of criminal penalties for the promotion of corresponding ideas is not an accident or a deviation. It is a natural result of the policy carried out in Ukraine for the past year by the winning ultra-right forces.
“The current phase of repression and persecution against the left is directly linked to catastrophic failures in government policy by Arseniy Yatsenyuk, imposing on the country the measures dictated by IMF under the guise of “austerity”,” – stated the political analyst. Against a giant (in some areas reaching up to 93% from last year’s level) decline in industrial production, amid mass layoffs and reductions (according to official data, the number of registered unemployed in Ukraine in the past year has increased by 1.8 million people), the government is implementing large-scale cuts in social spending of the budget and these are cuts in salaries and pensions, eliminating benefits, and raising the price of literally everything.
“Add to this list the war, the cost of which is close to $100 billion. In such circumstances, the authorities are rightly afraid that the inevitable”leftization” of the society against the background of anti-war protests will lead to a sharp surge in popularity of even the “toothless” Communist party of Ukraine led by Petro Symonenko, who, synchronously with the prohibition of communism, was interrogated by the security service of Ukraine for eleven hours straight on trumped up charges of supporting terrorism,” said Aleksey Bluminov.
According to Aleksey Bluminov, there is a growing demand for left-wing political projects, and after declaring them outlawed, there is a possibly of the emergence of “left-wing” terrorist groups.
“There are already many existing and likely to form on a wave of discontent, radical non-systemic left-wing groups, including ones capable of real terrorism. And this terrorism, as in Russia at the beginning of the last century, will enjoy the sympathies of a large part of society. This is actually why the current Kiev regime carried out a preventive cleansing of the political field, and ahead of time criminalizing and victimizing any alternative policy from the left.
Because if the authorities have a “cure” against the protests with the “separatist” slogans in the form of pumping the society with a great degree of chauvinism and societal cohesion in the face of “external threats,” the regime has no “cures” at all against mass protests undersocial slogans, with clear political leadership and political programs that can attract the wider society under socialist banners” – concluded the expert.
Earlier, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law banning the propaganda of the Communist ideology. The ban covers not only the national anthem and national symbols of the USSR, but also quotes of the leaders of the Communist party, the names of cities, villages, and streets. For example, according to this law the city of Dnepropetrovsk will have to be renamed into Kirovograd. In addition, the images of a hammer and sickle, and the national anthem of the USSR were outlawed.
Copyright Fort Russ, 2015
