no end in sight to russia

8/3/2019 No End in Sight to Russia

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No end in sight to Russia's era of

Vladimir Putin

By Steve Rosenberg

It feels like the day after a general election. Russians now know the name of their

next president - Vladimir Putin.

They know who their prime minister is going to be - Dmitry Medvedev.

They have a pretty good idea which political party will have the majority in

parliament - United Russia.

They know all this, even though parliamentary elections are still two-and-a-half

months away. And the next presidential election will not be until March 2012.

The results are already clear. When Dmitry Medvedev took the stage at a party

conference on Saturday and backed Vladimir Putin for president, he effectively

handed back the keys to the Kremlin. Job done.

The presidential election will be little more than a referendum on what has already

been agreed behind closed doors - that Mr Putin will return to the presidency.

Strongman image

It is unthinkable that Vladimir Putin could lose that election. He remains the most

popular politician in Russia.

That is partly because of his strongman image, that goes down well with the

public.

And it is partly because the political system he has created prevents any potential

rivals from appearing on the scene, from getting air time on national TV, and from

gaining authority.

It is the same with Russia's political parties. In December's Duma election, only

those parties approved or tolerated by the Kremlin will have the opportunity to

contest the poll.


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Experience shows that opposition parties viewed by the authorities as anti-Kremlin

or anti-Putin, and which openly criticise the Russian prime minister, normally

struggle to receive official registration.

So, what do Russians make of this pre-ordained transfer of power?

Judging from some of Monday's Russian papers, there is a degree of anger. The

popular tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets has a cartoon on its front page. It shows a

ballot box with a heart-shaped slot for the ballot papers. It is a sign that, in Russia,

elections have become little more than a plebiscite on the nation's love of one

man.

The paper accuses Vladimir Putin of wanting more than just 12 more years - two

terms - in power.

"You seek eternal power," it says. "You're counting on medical progress. You hope

to buy yourself eternal life. Then the questions of elections and successors will

flake away naturally like crumbling plaster."

According to the broadsheet Vedomosti, Saturday's announcement shows that

Dmitry Medvedev's time in the Kremlin was merely "camouflage" for a third Putin

presidential term. It likens Russia to the Titanic, heading for a disaster.

Some of President Medvedev's own advisers are deflated, too.

Last week Medvedev adviser Igor Yurgens told me he was sure that the president

would seek a second term. Today he admitted defeat.

"I feel disappointment bordering on anger," Mr Yurgens told me at his

Modernisation think-tank in Moscow. "Their smiling announcement that they

already had it in their heads for a long time was humiliating. The rational

explanation is that Medvedev was under pressure and the stronger and more

influential Putin got the upper hand. "

On Saturday the Russian president's economic advisor Arkady Dvorkovich tweeted

simply: "There's no cause for rejoicing."

But on the streets of Moscow, I found people less pessimistic.

"Putin has the experience, he's the best candidate for president," Vladimir told me.

"I don't see anyone else who could do the job."


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I asked Vladimir whether he would bother voting in the presidential election, now

that the result seemed clear.

"Yes, I will vote," he replied. "It's my duty as a citizen."

Olga, too, will cast her ballot in March. "If nobody votes, then elections will cease

to exist," she told me.

"From the point of view of democracy, it is not good that we have such a small

choice. But at least we know Putin. He's been president before. I'm not against

him."

no end in sight to russia

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