The first and last president. Who was the president of the USSR and the Russian Federation

Who was the president of the USSR and the Russian Federation. HelpStory:Elections of the President of the Russian Federation: legislation, certificates, biographies (10)18:0529.02.2008 (updated: 12:25 06/08/2008) 068035305 During the years of the existence of the institution of presidency on the territory of the USSR and the Russian Federation, the country had three heads of state - Mikhail Gorbachev (the first and only president of the USSR), Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin.

Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR on March 15, 1990 at the Third Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR.
December 25, 1991, in connection with the cessation of the existence of the USSR as public education, M.S. Gorbachev announced his resignation from the post of President and signed a Decree on the transfer of control to strategic nuclear weapons Russian President Yeltsin.

On December 25, after Gorbachev’s announcement of resignation, the red state flag of the USSR was lowered in the Kremlin and the flag of the RSFSR was raised. The first and last President of the USSR left the Kremlin forever.

The first president of Russia, then still the RSFSR, Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin was elected on June 12, 1991 by popular vote. B.N. Yeltsin won in the first round (57.3% of the votes).

In connection with the expiration of the term of office of the President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin and in accordance with the transitional provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, elections for the President of Russia were scheduled for June 16, 1996. This was the only presidential election in Russia where two rounds were required to determine the winner. The elections took place from June 16 to July 3 and were distinguished by intense competition between candidates. The main competitors were considered the current President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin and the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation G. A. Zyuganov. According to the election results, B.N. Yeltsin received 40.2 million votes (53.82 percent), significantly ahead of G.A. Zyuganov, who received 30.1 million votes (40.31 percent). 3.6 million Russians (4.82%) voted against both candidates .

On December 31, 1999, at 12:00 p.m., Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin voluntarily ceased to exercise the powers of the President of the Russian Federation and transferred the powers of the President to the Chairman of the Government, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. On April 5, 2000, the first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, was awarded pensioner and labor veteran certificates.

In accordance with the Constitution, the Federation Council of the Russian Federation set the date for holding extraordinary presidential elections March 26, 2000.

On March 26, 2000, 68.74 percent of voters included in the voting lists, or 75,181,071 people, took part in the elections. Vladimir Putin received 39,740,434 votes, which amounted to 52.94 percent, that is, more than half of the votes. On April 5, 2000, the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation decided to recognize the presidential elections of the Russian Federation as valid and valid, and to consider Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin elected to the post of President of Russia.

March 14, 2004 - Vladimir Putin was elected President of the Russian Federation for a second term. Six candidates competed for the post of President of Russia. 71.31 percent of voters voted for Vladimir Putin total number voters (49,565,238 people). Took office on May 7, 2004.

The Constitution of the Russian Federation prohibits the current president of the country from running for a third consecutive term.

Few people in modern political history received such lifetime fame and at the same time was subjected to such sharp attacks and ridicule as a man with the simple Russian surname Gorbachev - “Gorbi”, as he was somewhat familiarly, but with obvious sympathy, nicknamed in the West.

This man has enough titles and awards, his biography is on different languages occupy an entire shelf, and over time, undoubtedly, more than one feature film will be made about him - the zigzags of his political career are too contradictory. Not a single decision made by him during his years in power was unambiguous, be it an anti-alcohol legislative decision or He held a wide variety of positions, but if you choose the most “exclusive” of them, it sounds like this: First President of the USSR. The uniqueness of this position is that it existed for a very short time, less than two years, and then disappeared into history along with the state itself, the Soviet Union.

The first President of the USSR was elected in March 1990 at the third (I note, extraordinary!) Congress of People's Deputies, which at that time served as the highest body of state power. In the USSR, there had never before been a political post called "president of the country." In this regard, it is interesting to remember that the hierarchy of the Soviet state was strikingly different from the generally accepted system in the world; this created a lot of sensitive problems in diplomatic communication. To whom, for example, should congratulations be addressed on the occasion of the main national holiday?

All over the world, the president of a state writes to the president of another country, the prime minister - to his colleague, but what to do in the case of It is clear that the most influential person in the USSR it is not the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, but the General Secretary, but this is a party, not a government post...

With some stretch, the President of the country could be called the Chairman, that is, the head of the highest legislative body of the Soviet state. The first President of the USSR, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, held this position until his election to the post, which now allowed him to consider even the most implacable anti-communist, for example, the President of the United States of America Ronald Reagan, as his colleague.

It is M. Gorbachev and R. Reagan who are considered the creators of the new world order, ending the era forever. The name of the last President of the USSR did not leave the pages of the most respectable newspapers and magazines, glorifying him as a politician who managed to make our planet safer for living. Nobel Prize peace - the most significant evidence of recognition of M. Gorbachev’s merits in this field.

However, the first, and also the last, President of the USSR in his country was often awarded completely different epithets - such as destroyer, traitor, desecrator and others. Some of these accusations may be true, but for the most part they are not. In any case, the last word will remain with History, but for now the name of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev alone still has an effect on some people who are not very smart people as a strong irritant.

But he has long been accustomed to this and does not pay attention to the streams of accusations and outright slander - that’s why he and Mikhail Gorbachev, the one-of-a-kind first President of the USSR!

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR on March 15, 1990 at the III Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR.
On December 25, 1991, in connection with the cessation of the existence of the USSR as a state entity, M.S. Gorbachev announced his resignation from the post of President and signed a Decree transferring control of strategic nuclear weapons to Russian President Yeltsin.

The first president of Russia, then still the RSFSR, Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin was elected on June 12, 1991 by popular vote. B.N. Yeltsin won in the first round (57.3% of the votes).

December 31, 1999 at 12:00 pm Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin voluntarily ceased to exercise the powers of the President of the Russian Federation and transferred the powers of the President to the Chairman of the Government, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. On April 5, 2000, the first President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, was awarded pensioner and labor veteran certificates.

December 31, 1999 Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin became acting president of the Russian Federation.

In accordance with the Constitution, the Federation Council of the Russian Federation set March 26, 2000 as the date for holding early presidential elections.

The introduction of the post of President of the USSR now seems to be a logical result of the political reform of the USSR, first known under the name “democratization”, but more commonly known in history as Perestroika.

The decision on a radical reform of the political system of the USSR was proclaimed by the XIX All-Union Conference of the CPSU, held on June 28 - July 1, 1988. This forum itself, which involved a free discussion about pressing problems of society, was deliberately opposed to formalized party congresses, although the decisions of the conference were not binding. It is still unknown whether M.S. was already leading then. Gorbachev is heading towards just such an ending, that is, becoming the President of the USSR. But his desire to become a kind of national democratic leader, independent of the party oligarchy, was already obvious. All his subsequent actions fully fit into this logic.

An important decision was the conference's decision to separate the functions of party and Soviet bodies. True, at the same time it was recommended that the first secretaries of the territorial committees of the CPSU necessarily occupy the positions of chairmen of the executive committees of the corresponding Soviets. But at a time when the authority of the party could still seem high, this could be regarded as a way of giving greater authority to the Soviets.

The most important recommendation of the conference was the beginning of the reform of government bodies of the USSR. Its key point was the creation of a new supreme body of power - the Congress of People's Deputies - on the basis (for the first time since 1918!) of competitive elections. True, it was not parties that competed, but individuals, and the top leadership of the CPSU was elected to the Congress on a separate list. But this was an extremely important innovation, the scale and consequences of which were probably not fully understood by the organizers themselves.

Now it was the Congress of People's Deputies that was put forward in first place in political life, instead of the congresses of the CPSU and the CPSU Central Committee. This was further emphasized by the new structure of the governing bodies of the Congress. The former collective Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was the official body for signing papers sent to it from the Politburo of the Central Committee. Now the sole post of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was created, and this post was taken by Gorbachev himself at the First Congress, held in May-June 1989.

He continued to retain the functions of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, but transferred the center of gravity of power to the newly established position. For the first time in the history of the Soviet state (such a paradox!), the chairman of the highest Soviet body became actually higher than the leader of the party, although such a reshuffle has so far occurred within the same person. However, in retrospect, we are forced to admit that only thanks to this person such a historical revolution could take place.

But the functions of the Chairman of the Supreme Council included many restrictions on the part of the Supreme Council and the Congress. In this post, Gorbachev had no more power than the General Secretary, and therefore the conservative Politburo could (and continued) put pressure on him in an undesirable direction.

The situation for further deprivation of the CPSU's monopoly on power was developing as favorable as ever. At the First Congress, for the first time in the history of the USSR, a legal parliamentary opposition took shape (the Interregional Deputy Group - MDG), which launched an attack on this very monopoly. Gorbachev, repelling the attacks of the MDG, formally acted as a representative of the conservative majority. But since the former power of the Politburo was already delegitimized (although the notorious 6th Article of the Constitution was still in force), this majority was ready to entrust Gorbachev with the entirety of the former power of the CPSU, but now as the head of state. It was a brilliant move, played out in the traditions of British parliamentarism, which is unusual for Russia, within the framework of constitutional reformism and the unique almost peaceful transformation of an authoritarian regime into a democratic one.

The question of introducing the post of President of the USSR was already decided at the Second Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, held in December 1989. And then the situation in some republics worsened (for example, the events in Baku in January 1990). Gorbachev convincingly signaled to the old partycrats that speedy decision-making is needed to preserve the unity of the Union, and only he, as the plenipotentiary head of state, can ensure this.

The post of President of the USSR, established in March 1990 at the Third Congress, can be briefly described as follows: all the highest functions of power, which until then had been completely illegally, but actually used by the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, were completely officially concentrated in the hands of the President. At the same time, the President of the USSR had to be elected by universal suffrage of the citizens of the USSR (although an exception was made for the First President - he was elected at the Congress), and the number of candidates for this post was not limited.

The historical significance of the constitutional revolution that took place at that time is emphasized by the fact that the same Congress reformulated Article 6 of the USSR Constitution in such a way that the CPSU was deprived of its “leading role”, and the opportunity opened up for the creation of legal political parties competing for power.

Now, still called the USSR, politically it was a completely different state than in all the years since 1922. Probably, there were forks with several historical ways. It looks like the country hasn't taken the best course of action. But that is another story.

President of the USSR- the position of head of state. Introduced in the USSR on March 15, 1990 by the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, which introduced appropriate amendments to the Constitution of the USSR. Before this, the highest official in the USSR was the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

The position of President of the USSR ceased to exist on December 25, 1991 with the resignation of M. S. Gorbachev. According to the Constitution of the USSR, the President of the USSR was to be elected by citizens of the USSR by direct and secret ballot. As an exception, the first elections of the President of the USSR were held by the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. Due to the collapse of the USSR, popular elections of the President of the USSR never took place. The first and only President of the USSR was Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich. In the first half of 1990, almost all union republics declared their state sovereignty (RSFSR - June 12, 1990).

From 1992 to the present time M.S. Gorbachev is the president of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research (Gorbachev Foundation). In the summer of 1991, a new union treaty was prepared for signing. The attempted coup in August 1991 not only dashed the prospect of its signing, but also gave a powerful impetus to the beginning of the collapse of the state. In 1991, on December 8, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus), a meeting of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus was held, during which a document was signed on the liquidation of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth independent states(CIS) December 25, 1991 Gorbachev announced his resignation as President of the USSR.

Analysis of the institution of Presidential power in the system of government bodies of the Russian Federation is undoubtedly one of the current directions in modern states legal research. The range of problems relating to the political and legal status of the President of the Russian Federation is very wide and varied. In practice, it affects all sides and aspects of the institution of presidential power in the country: firstly, its very essence, purpose, place and role in the system of others government agencies; secondly, the prerequisites and necessity for its establishment; thirdly, the legal powers and functions of the President of the Russian Federation;

fourthly, general and special requirements for candidates for the presidency; fifthly, socio-political status; sixth, the boundaries of presidential power, the mechanism for its implementation and many others. It is safe to state the fact that in our society there is no unambiguous understanding of the constitutional and legal status of the President of the Russian Federation.

However, initially, among these problems, it is necessary to consider the reasons for the establishment of the post of President in the Russian Federation in the early 90s.

According to Part 1 of Art. 80 of the 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation - “The President of the Russian Federation is the head of state.” In domestic constitutional law, the head of state is traditionally understood as executive(or body) occupying a formally highest place in the hierarchy state institutions and positions that exercise the supreme representation of the country in internal political activities and in relations with other states.

By its existence in modern world The institution of the head of state is obliged to the late feudal institution - the absolute monarchy. At the time of the formation of bourgeois statehood, the thinking of the new ruling class was limited by the historical framework of a particular era. This was manifested, first of all, in the fact that the bourgeoisie found many institutions and feudal state attractive to yourself. Therefore, it borrowed the institution of the head of state, which was essentially a purely feudal institution.

That is why, introducing even the most progressive, at this historical period of time, form of government - the republic, it retained, in principle, this feudal institution - the institution of the head of state.

The practice of constitutional construction of modern states shows that the head of state can be both an official and a special body. In a number of countries, the institution of the head of state is or has been in the past organized in the form of a supreme collegial body: the Federal Council in Switzerland, consisting of 7 members; Standing Committee the National People's Congress of up to 170 members; State Council of the Assembly of People's Power in Cuba of 31 members, etc., which, along with the highest bodies of popular representation, represent the highest collegial bodies of state power. Headed, as a rule, by the Chairman, who independently exercises only those powers of the head of state that cannot be exercised collectively (for example, accepting letters of recall and credentials from ambassadors and other representatives accredited to the country foreign countries). At the same time, the place of these Councils (Presidiums, etc.) in the system of state bodies was determined by the fact that in all their activities they were accountable to the highest bodies of popular representation that elected them.

Thus, the accountability of the Presidium to the People's (National) Assembly was expressed in the fact that it could hear a report on its activities, if necessary, change some of the members of the Presidium, electing others instead, or even completely re-elect the Presidium before the expiration of its term of office.

During the Soviet period national history, for about seventy years in our country there existed precisely a collegial head of state - the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, consisting of, according to the last Constitution of the USSR in 1977. of 39 members (Article 120). At the same time, in order to identify the reasons for the radical renewal of the institution of the head of state, it is necessary to take into account that all this began during the existence of the USSR. First, in March 1990, the post of President of the USSR was introduced, and then in many union republics, including in March 1991. and in the RSFSR. Since the main reasons for the emergence of the institution of presidential power in our country are common, before considering the Russian Federation, it is necessary to analyze some general points.

The institution of presidential power has relatively short story in the development of domestic statehood, since the Soviet republic, this kind of institution was organically alien. The absolute power of the Soviets, the combination of legislative and executive powers in them were organically incompatible with the principle of separation of powers, one of the expressions of which is the presence in the system of government bodies - the post of president. Therefore, the idea of establishing the post of President, initially, as already noted, arose back in former USSR, met significant resistance from some people’s deputies, supporters of preserving Soviet power, who quite reasonably saw in it a violation of the principle of sovereignty of the councils.

However, the growing processes of democratization and the renewal of the entire state system prevailed, and the post of President of the USSR in March 1990. was established, which led to significant changes in the 1977 Constitution of the USSR. March 14, 1990 The USSR Law “On the establishment of the post of President of the USSR and the introduction of amendments and additions to the Constitution (Basic Law) of the USSR” was adopted. According to the amended Constitution (Article 127), the President of the USSR became the head of the Soviet state. A USSR citizen no younger than 35 and no older than 65 could be elected. The same person could not serve as President of the USSR for more than two consecutive terms. The President of the USSR had to ensure interaction between government and administrative bodies. The USSR Constitution provided for elections

The President of the USSR by citizens, i.e. direct elections. However, the election of the first President of the USSR (who turned out to be the last, as practice has shown) in accordance with the law of March 14, 1990. happened at the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. Soon after this, a similar process of establishing the institution of presidential power began in the union republics, where decisions on this were made by the corresponding Supreme Councils.

Considering the question of the purpose and reasons for the emergence of the institution of presidential power precisely at the perestroika stage, it should be noted that constitutional legislation largely reflected and, as it were, summarized the numerous and sometimes very contradictory views and proposals that were expressed by legal scholars, people's deputies and journalists at stages of preparation and discussion of draft normative legal acts and issues relating to the general legal status and purpose of the institution of presidency in the country. When the post of President was introduced at the USSR level, a number of explanations followed, interpreting the reasons for the emergence of the institution of presidential power in our country, which cannot be ignored in relation to the Russian Federation.

Firstly, this is the separation of the functions of the party and the state. Previously, all the main issues of internal and foreign policy were decided by party bodies and, thus, the main link in developing a strategy for state life was outside the state system. Now it was necessary to strengthen that link of state power, the functions of which had previously been replaced by party decisions. Secondly, after the separation of powers, there was a need to coordinate the activities of legislative and executive bodies. Thirdly, there is an urgent need to stabilize the situation and quickly resolve emergency situations. The existing structures turned out to be unsuitable for this. Of the above-mentioned circumstances, only the last was more or less clear, since it is often necessary to quickly respond to a situation and take quick solutions what one person can do better than a group of people. Then there was the post of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, but the Chairman led the work of the Supreme Council and the Congress of People's Deputies (if its meetings were held) and performed the functions of the head of state, and at the same time was often not independent, which limited his capabilities.

Other factors were somewhat uncertain. For example, if functions were transferred from party bodies to state ones, then in the end they could partially pass to parliament, partially to the government. It is also unclear why the separation of powers determined the need for a coordinating body. After all, the separation of powers presupposes their mutual influence, and not the increased capabilities of one body in relation to others. Ultimately, it would be possible to strengthen the functions of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR or make him a person coordinating the activities of central bodies.

World practice shows that the relevant state can concentrate in the hands of one person functions and tasks that are dispersed in other countries. Such tasks and functions are related to the representation and good of the state, its citizens and society as a whole and are more effective when carried out by one person rather than by a board. This person: firstly, is a symbol of a particular state, its unity, represents the highest state interests both within the country and in the world community; secondly, it represents the entire people of a given country, their interests and speaks on behalf of the people, stands above social, party, national and other unilinear interests and especially disagreements, coordinates society, cements socio-political and public life; thirdly, bears personal responsibility for the state of affairs in the country, ensures the stability of this situation, takes prompt measures and decisions to ensure order and security, to fulfill the international obligations of the state; fourthly, he stands at the head of the executive branch of the state apparatus, or above it, directs its activities; fifthly, is declared supreme commander armed forces country and thereby affects the defense of the state and the passage of citizens military service; sixthly, he makes appointments to the highest positions in the executive branch, and often to all positions of judges, that is, in this sense, he is, as it were, the highest official of the country, the “chief state official”; seventhly, he is the supreme defender of the interests of the “common man”, resolves issues of citizenship, carries out awards and pardons for citizens of the state, considers their complaints, etc. Naturally, this is a general theoretical view, but in practice, the application of the listed provisions may take place in their various combinations. Thus, the person who is the head of state can be either a monarch or a president.

Monarchies have in most cases gone from strong government to its sharp weakening and the retention of mainly representative functions by the head of state (the only exceptions today are some Middle Eastern kings and sheikhs). Presidents can also officially be at the head of the state, but the possibilities of their real participation in governance are significantly limited in favor of the government. However, there are also models in which, on the contrary, the key figure legally is the President. Situations are also possible when it is legally limited, for example, parliamentary control over its activities is declared, but in practice it is completely independent.

All this had to be taken into account when introducing the post of president in our country. At the same time, some purely domestic circumstances cannot be discounted. So, for example, with I.V. Stalin, and in a number of respects later, our country learned what personal power is and what negative consequences it leads to. Therefore, in connection with the introduction of the post of president, the question immediately arose: would this mean the restoration of the regime of personal power? At one time, in order to prevent another cult of personality, the CPSU Central Committee proclaimed the principle of collective leadership. But even then, the power of the general secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee was unquestionable both in the party and in the state. The question arose what would happen if now one person, according to the country’s constitution, that is, legally, gets into his own hands all the threads of leadership of the country! Further, the question arose about whether there was a sufficient “niche” for presidential affairs, since representative functions could be entrusted to the Chairman of the Parliament, and tasks operational management country to the Prime Minister.

Taking into account the above, the following reasons for the introduction of the post of President of the USSR in our country are revealed: firstly, the democratization of the processes of governing the country quite quickly demonstrated that the Parliament and the Government, which was carried away by discussions, were really unable to make operational decisions and quickly implement them, so it was necessary to have one leader a state that would be responsible hourly for current affairs; secondly, in the conditions of the formation of the system of separation of powers, at this historical period, the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR and especially the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, which worked on a permanent basis, took upon themselves great amount cases and assigned an almost peremptory right to resolve any issues. The presidency of the USSR in this case would become a counterbalance to the extremes of domestic parliamentarism; thirdly, in the absence of a parliamentary majority of one party, or an alliance of several parties in Parliament (or in its lower house), the President will objectively be forced to take on the function of forming the Government and directing its work, since conflicting parties could simply paralyze the functioning of the highest body executive power; fourthly, in the process of the formation of ideological pluralism and the rejection of political monism, post Secretary General The CPSU meant little, and the leadership of the CPSU did not want to limit its powers; the introduction of the post of President of the USSR was considered a significant part party functionaries as a way to maintain the influence of the party in the changed socio-political and socio-economic conditions of the country; fifthly, the obvious objective desire of M.S. himself. Gorbachev to free himself from the tutelage of the “native party”. Since, a leader aimed at reforms had to check his every step with the Politburo and the Central Committee of the CPSU and at the same time fear that he would not only be overthrown from the party Olympus, but also from the post of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, since members of the CPSU are among other people's deputies of the USSR made up the overwhelming majority. Thus, the presidency provided an opportunity for former party leaders at the level of the Union and union (as well as actually in the autonomous republics) republics not only to maintain themselves in power, but also to fight the omnipotence of the party, and where they saw the Communist Party as a constant threat to their power , as for example, in the RSFSR, ban it altogether. The latter circumstance is, as it were, a domestic, including Russian, manifestation of a gaming tendency towards the introduction of strong presidential regimes, namely, where internal contradictions, pressure from various forces, including supporters of those who came to the presidency, encourage the corresponding individuals to fight for the presidency with tangible powers of the so-called super presidency.

The stated reasons for the introduction of the presidency have become well understood today, after a number of years have passed. Directly when establishing the post of President of the USSR, they preferred to emphasize that it contributes to the orderliness of affairs in the country, that the power of the President of the USSR will not be authoritarian, and even that there is no talk of any attempt on the role of the highest representative body of power of the USSR; on the contrary, he controls the activities of the President, can cancel the latter’s decrees and early release him from office if he violates the Constitution and laws of the USSR.

In fact, the President of the USSR was initially a strong political figure, which was ensured both by the Constitution of the USSR and by the personal authority of M.S. Gorbachev. Subsequently, a number of constitutional innovations appeared, indicating consistent attempts to strengthen the position of the President of the USSR. For example, initially he had little influence on the formation and leadership of the Government. But already with the amendments and additions to the Constitution of the USSR on December 26, 1990. It was established that the President of the USSR heads the system of organs government controlled that the Government is subordinate to the President, that the latter forms the Cabinet of Ministers in agreement with the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Thus, during this period, the model of the institution of presidential power in the country was in dynamics. Consequently, there was no complete clarity on the question of what the President of the RSFSR should be like at the time of the establishment of this post. Obviously, there was only one thing: Russia needed the President - as, for that matter, any other union republic at that time - as the highest person who would take care of strengthening the independence of the state, representing and protecting its interests.

In Russia, the issue of establishing the post of President was resolved no less difficult. Initially, the Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR spoke out against its introduction, then, on the initiative of a third of the deputies, it was scheduled for March 17, 1991. The All-Russian referendum, in accordance with the results of which this post was established. After the referendum, this issue no longer caused such lively debate and political confrontation as had previously taken place when discussing all the pros and cons of introducing the post of the Union President. According to L.A. Okunkov, most deputies probably shared the same opinion about the future priority of Parliament in relations with the President. Because even with such a serious change in the system higher authorities In Russia, the main role still remained with the Congress and the Supreme Council of the RSFSR. Since, firstly, all the powers of the President were determined by the Parliament itself; secondly, the power of the budget, the power of money, all the programs of the President, his administration, the entire executive branch would be financed by the Parliament; thirdly, Parliament reserves the right to repeal any decree of the President; fourthly, the President must issue decrees only on the basis of the Constitution and laws, that is, by-laws; and fifthly, Parliament reserves the right to remove the President of the Russian Federation from office. Apparently, that’s why out of 898 people’s deputies who took part in the voting, 690 were in favor of establishing the Law “On the President of the RSFSR.” As a result of the referendum, the laws of the RSFSR “On the President of the RSFSR”, “On the elections of the President of the RSFSR” of April 24, 1991 were adopted. and “On the assumption of office of the President of the RSFSR” dated June 27, 1991. Law of the RSFSR of May 24, 1991 Corresponding changes and additions were made to the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1978, in which a special chapter appeared. Based on these legislative changes, the first President of Russia was elected through general, direct, equal elections by secret ballot on June 12, 1991. It became B.N. Yeltsin, who previously held the position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.

Thus, the introduction of the post of President of the RSFSR was a consequence of those difficult, but generally very progressive, democratic processes that took place and are taking place in Russian society and in his political system since the beginning of the 90s. It reflected the objective process of transformation of political power from the system of party bodies and organizations into the system of state bodies and organizations, including the institution of the President and the Councils. This seems to be the main, main, but not exhaustive explanation of the structural and functional changes that have occurred in the mechanism of the country's political power. It should be taken into account that there are many other, inextricably linked with the above - objective and subjective reasons, which also require separate special consideration. These include: firstly, the desire to fill, through the introduction of the post of President of the RSFSR, a kind of “vacuum” of power that arose in the country in the process of carrying out economic and political reforms, as a result of the implementation of different areas in the life of Soviet society, radical, but not always consistent and not always predictable in their consequences, transformations. A situation has arisen that was correctly noted at the Congress of People’s Deputies by former Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee V.A. Medvedev, when “the old system, in which the party was the supreme governing body, has outlived its usefulness and is being dismantled. The processes of formation and development of a new parliamentary democratic system. But these processes turned out to be not adequately supported by the creation of strong mutually balancing and mutually controlling structures in state system, whose role was previously performed by the party.” Secondly, the need to change federal relations in order to see in the institution of the president, established in such a complex multinational country as Russia, a kind of supreme arbiter elected by all peoples. The President of the RSFSR was supposed to act primarily as a coordinator in relations between sovereign republics. Thirdly, the need to have an integrating force not only in the political system of society and in the system of separation of powers, but also in society itself. Fourthly, the need to strengthen executive power and improve management efficiency. The point is, among other things, that the establishment of the post of President of the RSFSR was associated, to a certain extent, with the need, through the efficiency of presidential power, to neutralize Negative consequences, caused by the slowness in the activities and decision-making of representative bodies, their well-known inertia, and the ineffectiveness of collegial leadership, especially when it was necessary to make quick decisions on current issues requiring prompt intervention.

Subjective reasons should not be underestimated. Among them, first of all: firstly, the obvious reception of this post among the all-Union leadership, this was expressed, first of all, in the fact that the Russian political elite I found him attractive. Secondly, the desire of the then Chairman of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR B.N. Yeltsin to strengthen its status in the system of government bodies in order to carry out urgent socio-political and socio-economic reforms. Despite the obvious need, for the above reasons, to introduce the post of President of the RSFSR, the serious question remained open: which model of presidential power to choose. World experience offered several options. Firstly, the president is the head of state, with purely representative functions, he does not interfere in anything, but exercises only representative powers (assigns awards and titles, opens official events, receives foreign delegations, etc.), while all serious The job of running the country is done by the Prime Minister. Secondly, the president is also the head of state, but not for show, i.e. the ruler of the country who himself does or predetermines everything. Thirdly, the president is the head of state and the head of the executive branch, i.e. at the same time the leader of the country and the head of the state apparatus. This model would strongly focus the president on coordinating functions in relation to government bodies belonging to other branches of government. Fourth, the president is the head of the executive branch and the highest official. This model directs the president to lead the government apparatus. This model can have various manifestations: the president is not the head of the government, but leads it to the point of presiding over its meetings; the president is officially the head of the government, forming its composition, except for the prime minister, whose candidacy is agreed with parliament, etc. Naturally, because of the first option, it made no sense to even begin introducing the post of president in Russia. Since, we were talking about strengthening the state itself, and the president was supposed to serve this goal. The state needed a strong figure to strengthen and defend its interests. The use of the second model in establishing the post of president was not very realistic, since the authoritarianism of this position was strong, which could generally bury the idea of the presidency. Such a model can be introduced only as the authority of an already functioning president grows (as was the case in France in 1958), but not from the beginning of this constitutional institution. For the same reasons, it is initially difficult to use the third model. Therefore, objectively, the fourth option remained. He was reflected in regulations RSFSR.

In discussions on the issue of introducing the post of President of Russia, negative arguments were also expressed, in which ideas were expressed that the establishment of this post with strong, almost uncontrollable power could create the preconditions for the growth of authoritarian tendencies in the country, for the resurrection of the regime of personal power, for usurpation it by one person or his environment.

The first and last president. Who was the president of the USSR and the Russian Federation

Latest

You need to know this