VLADIMIR VOINOVICH PM Vladimir Putin insists: Without normal democratic development Russia will have no future. We Russians are pleased to hear these enlightened words, yet Putin adds a but to his argument, which weakens it considerably. In fact, Putins but renders his points senseless. We have hated this but, this coordinating conjunction, ever since the dawn of the Soviet era. Then we were told that freedom is good, but that one cant live in an individualist society without common concern for the communist state. Democracy is great, but only in the interests of the working class. Now Russias PM tells us that democracy is indeed great, but that public protests cannot take place in public places, say, around hospitals and the like. Never mind that the Russian Constitution does not list hospitals among places forbidden for public assembly, or that sick people need democracy, too. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev does understand - with no buts - that freedom is better than not freedom, that legal nihilism is bad and democracy is good. He understands that Stalin was a criminal, that his order to murder Polish officers in Katyn was an act of depravity that has no excuse or explanation. The President understands this; unfortunately, we dont understand the role our President plays in our society. He says all the right things, yet they dont seem to be reflected in reality. The Dissenters Marches, which takes place on the 31st of every month (Article 31 of the Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly), could be (and are) easily dismissed as a marginal protest of a few hundred people with no common goals or ideas. Putins and Medvedevs poll numbers are so high, many argue, that they dont need to care about a few dissenters. Besides, most Russians support the government with no dissent at all, they say. Todays dissenters are indeed a minority and of course can be disregarded, but only up to a point. After all, this minority is one of thinkers - musicians, artists, and writers, and those who move forward Russian science, technology, and economic innovation. Such people cannot be dismissed as useless, since we need the innovation that they deliver, even if we think Russia doesnt need democracy. True, not all members of the thinking minority attend the Dissenters Marches, yet many more of them silently oppose the regime. Our leaders talk obsessively of Russias industrial modernisation, of their support for innovations such as nanotechnology, so that Russia can catch up with the developed countries. In line with Soviet traditions, a nanotechnology project was given a piece of land, with plans to set up various scientific facilities. The best brains in Russia - engineers, scientists, and inventors - will gather in one place, and from there begin moving the country forward. The hope is that not only those living in Russia but also emigrants will be overcome with patriotic feelings. They will come back to Russia to make themselves famous and their motherland proud. A wonderful plan. But I fear that it wont work. For example, imagine a genius who left Russia years back. He has achieved prominence in a foreign country, inventing something outstanding. Now he is asked to come home: your motherland is waiting for you, it values your contribution, it forgives your betrayal, and it will pay you more than what you are getting elsewhere. Yet, before making the final decision, he turns on the radio, watches a bit of TV, browses the internet, and finds out what Russia is like. Journalists are killed, scientists are accused of espionage, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky remains unjustly imprisoned. Various blogs tell him that Russias Parliament is just a place for rubber-stamping decisions already taken at the top. He reads the confused and confusing speeches of our leaders: freedom is good, but Then this scientist will be surprised (or not) to discover that the Russian majority views Joseph Stalin as the third most popular person in a contest to be known as the Face of Russia. In the meantime, his junior colleague in Russia, who still has his whole future in front of him, does not attend the Dissenters March, but simply emigrates, which is also a form of protest. In a country where the concepts of democracy and freedom are balanced by but, achievements in science, technology, and economy are not possible. The thinking minority needs a system of laws and institutions, real presidential elections, a working Parliament, and justice that is independent, rather than merely following orders from above. Gulf News