Putin's Grip on Power is Unraveling

asianobserve

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Opposition protesters arrested as Putin's party suffers losses
Opposition protesters arrested as Putin's party suffers losses - CNN.com

Russian Election Marred by Voting Irregularities
Russia: Putin's Party Appears to Lose Ground in Vote Marred by Controversy - TIME

Putin is desperately trying to hold on to power.

Now I know what's behind Putin's manic obsession with confronting America and the West: it is trying to deflect Russian attention away from him (and his cronies) and into the old enemy. Maybe he thought that he could fool his people all the time...:lol:
 

Ray

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Is he winning or losing or is he manipulating?
 

nrj

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Communist Party with 92 seats while Putin holding 238 seats & he will lose ?
 

asianobserve

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With more than 70% of the total vote counted, Putin's United Russia party is far and away the winner of Sunday's elections with 49.9%, followed by 19.4% for the runner-up Communist Party, according to the All-Russia Center for Public Opinion. The Fair Russia party has 12.9% and the Liberal Democratic party has 11.9%.

But the poll numbers add up to a significant loss. If they are an accurate reflection of the election results, United Russia stands to lose many of the 300 seats it currently holds in the 450-seat Duma -- Russia's parliament.


Opposition protesters arrested as Putin's party suffers losses - CNN.com
 

charlyondfi

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Barely half. Must say already a triumph to most democratic elections...

Allow me to raise this here -- exactly how effective & efficient a leader Putin is, in your measure, guys?

He has been in power for 12 years (1999-), and yet NO one really think Russia is on a track of true "recovering", well, at least myself. We have heard all these critics from staggering economy, devastating military industry & technology development, kept-falling population/birth rate. Not to mention he has been given a near-monopoly power for so long. How good he is, really? And, his in power is a good thing to Russia?
 

asianobserve

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Barely half. Must say already a triumph to most democratic elections...

Allow me to raise this here -- exactly how effective & efficient a leader Putin is, in your measure, guys?

He has been in power for 12 years (1999-), and yet NO one really think Russia is on a track of true "recovering", well, at least myself. We have heard all these critics from staggering economy, devastating military industry & technology development, kept-falling population/birth rate. Not to mention he has been given a near-monopoly power for so long. How good he is, really? And, his in power is a good thing to Russia?

Well, considering how popular and seemingly invincible he was in Russia just 3 yrs ago, the lose of majority is quiet significant.

About his continued stay in power (new era imperial rule), iIt's a good thing for Iran for sure. :rofl:
 
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niharjhatn

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Well, considering how popular and seemingly invincible he was in Russia just 3 yrs ago, the lose of majority is quiet significant.

About his continued stay in power (new era imperial rule), iIt's a good thing for Iran for sure. :rofl:
I expected Russia to completely fall apart after the collapse of the USSR. Among the post-Soviet era leaders, he has been the best, especially in terms of his nationalism - he managed to keep Russia together when it was under some strain from rebels seeking sovereignty.
 

Ray

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There is no doubt that Putin has given some hope of restoring the Russian self respect.

But what does the average Russian think?
 

charlyondfi

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I do have this good Russian friend Dmitry (Dimitry) who is such a fan to Putin, and keep telling me all the reasons stopping a "idealistic president" - old & ineffective bureaucracy, diverse political factors & forces, huge geographic span to govern, decaying infrastructure that hard to invest, etc. However, he had never been able to answered my question directly: then how much more power and how long Putin need?.

After another 12 years and totally 24 in power, he will steel longer than a full generations of Russian. I must say, from his past performance -- or, to be exact, the past 12 years Russia performance, a linear projection does NOT look good... ...
 

asianobserve

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A careful review of Russian history will reveal that Putin is actually not an anomaly. In fact save for Yeltsin, Russia has always been ruled by dictators or dictator-like leaders, they were called emperors, czars or premiers. I think this kind of leadership and dependence on such kind of leaders on the part of ordinary Russians are already hard wired in their genes. Russians are like bad addicts, they are addicted to emperors yet they despise them deep down which makes them almost inherently miserable as a nation (although they do made good literatures from their misery).

What will Russians be without winter, Vodka and a good dose of fear and disdain of their leaders? They're a never ending drama.
 

asianobserve

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Compared to Yeltsin he is basically God.
Now you have an interesting avatar. Don't you think I should be using that? :lol:

Yeltsin was an absolute wreck. He did more to damage Russian's acceptance of Western style democracy and the West in general than he could have wished for (although I think he was thinking he personified both during his term)... This explains Putin's popularity, especially among older Russians.
 

charlyondfi

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Guys, I don't mean to discuss how popular or why so popular Putin is. Instead, want to stick to the basis: aren't we measuring a leader by his/her country overall performance, especially given his huge power & long term?
 

pmaitra

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Russian media see election flaws

Russian media see election flaws

5 December 2011 Last updated at 08:56 ET


Support for the ruling United Russia Party has decreased

Scepticism has filled many Russian newspapers following what some media outlets consider to have been a flawed parliamentary election, with some party leaders and opposition activists also using Twitter to voice concerns over the election process.

However, several commentators have detected a change approaching in Russian politics, after the drop in support for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's ruling United Russia party.

NEWSPAPERS


Mikhail Rostovsky in Moskovskiy Komsomolets
No 'Orange Revolution' will happen in Russia on the cusp of 2011-12. The authorities will ensure whatever result from the election they consider necessary. [However, the results] may be deemed unfair by a considerable part of the Russian population. If that happens, the keynote of the Russian political process in the near future may be a gradual erosion in the legitimacy of the authorities.

Editorial in Vedomosti
Those who tried to sterilise the election and the vote count probably unknowingly did the authorities a bad turn. They confirmed society's fears. It is highly probable that many people will refuse to recognise the results of such an "election" instead of the real people's choice, and will wish to count the votes themselves.

Kirill Rogov in Novaya Gazeta
The predictable result of the election is that the results will not be regarded as legitimate by the population. The authorities are to blame for this. Never before have we seen such shameless pressure, such brazen pressuring of undesirable candidates and observers, such nakedly lawless behaviour on the part of officials and such an evident show of political commitment from the Central Electoral Commission.

Aleksandr Rubtsov in Novaya Gazeta
Having put himself above everything and having put everything around him down, Putin has made the system fully dependent on his own charisma. Without its leader, United Russia will instantly collapse and disperse. After this election, there will be a pause... and everything will "stabilise" again, but not forever: the process has started.

Head of the Political Information Centre Alexei Mukhin in Izvestia
I hope this will show the party that it is necessary to change, but not to become a bronze monument by ignoring the electorate's signals. This loss of votes is the result of the decision made by Putin and Medvedev to "exchange their posts".

Leonid Radzikhovsky in Rossiyskaya Gazeta
Yes, the ruling authorities have won, but their moral capital is declining. And if the system is weak inside, any outside impact (such as a drop in oil prices) will be enough, and it may collapse.

TWITTER


Many of Russia's best-known Twitter-users have been giving their reaction to the results, with Russia's most followed tweeter, President Dmitry Medvedev, hailing United Russia's poll success.
However, several high-profile party leaders and opposition activists used their tweets to claim election fraud, including opposition activist Roman Dobrokhotov, who was detained in Moscow on election day and criticised Mr Medvedev.

President Dmitry Medvedev
Thank you for supporting United Russia!

Opposition activist Roman Dobrokhotov
Whose support? No-one's supporting you, you cardboard buffoon. Only [chairman of the Central Electoral Commission] Churov and his wondermaths.

United Russia MP Alexander Khinshtein
When people say that it's only crooks, officials and forced slaves who vote for United Russia, they're spitting in the faces of millions of people!

A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov
What's happening in St Petersburg is completely outrageous - they're brazenly rewriting the electoral returns. Tomorrow we'll be out on the streets.

LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky
We have been recording violations in every region today.

Popular blogger and anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny
The party of crooks and thieves managed to crawl above 50% after all. I'll have to review my assessments of their dishonesty.

Popular photo-blogger Ilya Varlamov
Oh! United Russia's got more than 50%. Well, that's it, now I can go to sleep, without any fear of waking up in a different country.

Popular blogger and opposition activist Oleg Kozyrev
A clear success for protest voting. United Russia has collapsed and fallen below 50%. By the presidential election, they'll have slumped to 15%, where they belong.

Source: BBC News - Russian media see election flaws
 

civfanatic

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Yeltsin was an absolute wreck. He did more to damage Russian's acceptance of Western style democracy and the West in general than he could have wished for (although I think he was thinking he personified both during his term)... This explains Putin's popularity, especially among older Russians.
Putin's support base mainly comes from young and middle-aged Russians. The older generations, who were alive during the 60s and 70s, tend to be hardcore Communists.
 

civfanatic

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Guys, I don't mean to discuss how popular or why so popular Putin is. Instead, want to stick to the basis: aren't we measuring a leader by his/her country overall performance, especially given his huge power & long term?
There is a reason why Putin is popular. He saved the country from the chaos of the Yeltsin years, restored Russia's international prestige and brought considerable economic improvement. He hasn't created a new superpower, and the Russia of today is still a far cry from what the Soviet Union was, but I don't think it is possible for Russia to become a superpower again anyway,
 

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