1. Democracy 1: The interaction between Putin when
he was Prime Minister and his President Dmitri Medvedev had set a bad
precedent. Whilst Medvedev clearly rebelled against Putin on some things, the
whole arrangement was created to help Putin get round the ban on more than 1
consecutive term in the Russian Constitution. Medvedev has now been rewarded
with the role of Prime Minister under Putin, which will now no doubt become a
far less powerful role than it was with Putin. This kind of arrangement makes a
mockery of democracy but also is free to be copied unless an amendment is made
to the Russian Constitution to stop it, something that will not happen whilst
the beneficiaries of the scam are in power. Burglars do not fix the windows
they break in through
2. Democracy 2: Putin’s election was clearly fixed.
Thankfully I can say that and not fear for my freedom. In the election Putin
faced opposition from other candidates but some were clearly write-ins to make
it seem democratic. On top of that he received 59% of the vote in an election
where one third of polling stations were reported for ‘irregularities’ and with
over 3,000 reports of voter fraud on election night! Despite the old
plea that Russian elections are hard to run perfectly because of the vast task
involved (used in Soviet times), these kinds of abuses clearly show the
election to be unfair
3. Free speech: Linked to the above are concerns
that Putin’s election brings to the enshrined right of free speech in Russia.
Opposition leaders and their supporters have been imprisoned since Putin’s
election. Stage managed events have taken place to portray Putin in certain
ways (e.g. he was mobbed by youth at a military parade to show his popularity).
All this leaves me to fear that the small opposition movement will not be
heard/will be sidelined. All active democracies allow dissent and discussion so
that leaders can be rebuked and policies can be investigated. If this is not
allowed in Russia then its claims to be a democracy will not stand up. We in
Britain do not realise how lucky we are
4. Foreign Policy: Putin is now back in power and
back on the world stage. World events which Russia can directly impact include
Iran, energy supplies, Syria, Chechnya and the wider fight against Islamic
terrorism and Eastern Europe, especially the Ukraine. Whilst Putin has acted in
line with the Western powers in some ways, he still is a loose cannon when it
comes to some areas. Russia’s stance on Syria has been especially worrying,
seeing as their desire to hold on to their naval base (their only base on foreign
soil) trumps their concerns for civilian casualties and persecution. This
concern has only increased since his comments at a recent military parade,
mentioning Russia’s ‘moral right’ to defend itself and its interests
5. Opposition: In all this there are glimmers of
hope, with people openly gathering in street parades in the lead up to the
election (and its predictable outcome) to oppose Putin’s accession to the
throne. Putin clearly has an appeal. His desire to make Russia a great country
is clear and no doubt admirable for the voter. But he is not as popular as he
appears to be and he is not as popular as he was. Moscow apparently no longer supports
him and rural areas are turning against him as he fails to deliver what his rhetoric
promises. If the opposition are able to gather a ground swell of support, they
may prevent Putin seizing power again in 6 years time
Putin has been able to guide policy behind the scenes for 4 years and has now gained the Presidency back until potentially 2024. My hope and prayer is that he will guide Russia well and step down to a free and fairly elected successor. My fear is that his Presidency will lead to raised tensions over foreign and internal policy as the ex-KGB man seeks to force his hand on his people and on the world stage
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