![]() ![]() His hand, in particular, was seen in Medvedev’s decision to pass a law lengthening future presidential terms from four years to six. He opened a Twitter and Facebook account, used an iPhone and iPad, and once split an order of fries with President Barack Obama at a burger joint, while on a state visit to the US in 2010.īut Putin continued to call the shots. He projected a young, modern, more democratic vibe. In a move that could only be taken by someone with both an eerie amount of confidence in his own personal power and an astonishingly long-term political vision, Putin agreed to support his then-prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, for president, in return for Medvedev naming Putin his number two.īack then, in 2008, many pundits assumed that lawyerly Medvedev, once in office, might attempt to distance himself from his former boss. As the second stint approached its end, debate swirled over whether the leader would consent to step down or defy the law and stay in place. Winning his first presidential campaign in 2000, Putin served two consecutive four-year terms – all that the Russian constitution allowed. Putin has sidestepped this situation once before. ![]() That means that in a matter of days, Putin, the man that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has compared to a god, calling him “ a leader of the political Olympus,” will turn into a lame duck, albeit one with a six-year tenure. Putin’s efforts to uphold the trappings of democracy, even while asserting his right to “manage” Russia’s democratic process, has led to a situation where – according to the very constitutional limits he has previously endorsed – this upcoming electoral victory should be his last. Also, that his whole administrative apparatus has always been prepared to invest significant resources in making him appear even more revered than he actually is. My research as a scholar of Russian and Soviet history shows that there is no escaping the fact that Putin is genuinely popular. They include a 34-year-old former reality TV star who admits that “when money gets into her hands, she spends everything” on clothes.īut with the country’s television media under tight Kremlin control and the outspoken dissident Alexander Navalny barred from the ballot, no one besides Putin is expected to garner even double-digit support. Seven other candidates are participating. ![]() On March 18, Russians go to the polls where they will – without doubt – re-elect President Vladimir Putin to a fourth leadership term. Long before it happened, Russia’s ruling party had already called it “ the ultimate victory.” ![]()
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