FX.co ★ Gorbachev wants to restart perestroika

Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the USSR, insists that Russia needs another perestroika.
“We reached a stage when perestroika was interrupted. Politics is increasingly developing into an imitation. We need a new system of governing the country,” he said during an open lecture at RIA Novosti in Moscow. “We need elections, not their imitation,” he added. His words were unwelcomed by the ruling political party United Russia. The secretary of the General Council of United Russia, Sergey Neverov, told the press, “Mikhail Gorbachev already initiated one perestroika. As a result we lost the country.”
Mikhail Gorbachev had repeatedly condemned the Russian political system. In the interview with The Wall Street Journal, he labelled the political regime in the country as “authoritarian”.
Mr Gorbachev noted that the Kremlin’s “habit” of authoritarianism is “a very dangerous thing”. “We in Russia are forced to seriously struggle to strengthen democracy, ensure honest elections, the independence of the judiciary and many other things,” Mr Gorbachev said.