Vladimir Putin at a rally. Reuters.
Vladimir Putin has won another six years as president in a landslide election victory. Reuters. Putin will rule until at least 2024, which will leave him at 71 years old. With 70 percent of the vote counted, Putin got 75.9 percent of the vote. Putin's victory was never really in doubt as he had an 80 percent approval rate. His nearest opponent, Pavel Grundinin, of the Communist Party, only got 13 percent of the vote. Despite the high turnout and strong performance from Putin, Russia still claims that the West attempted to interfere with their election. Putin's relationship with the west has faltered lately over Syria, Ukraine, allegations of election interference and the suspected poisoning of a spy in the UK.
My Comment:
No surprises here. There was basically no chance that Vladimir Putin was going to be defeated in this election. His popularity in Russia is very high and there aren't really any other credible candidates. It would have taken a miracle for him to lose.
Why is Putin so popular? For many of the reasons the West hates him. They are happy that Putin stands up to the west and they generally like his policies. They also remember the bad old days under communism and the rough start that Russia had after if fell. Say what you want about Putin but without him Russia would be a very different country.
I also think this is part of why Putin has been so confrontational with the west lately. He's been fairly aggressive in Syria and is likely the cause of the diplomatic row with the UK over that poisoned spy. I think that both actions were for domestic benefit. He wants to show that he is stronger than the west and is willing to fight for Russia. Given his high numbers, it seems to be working.
Some might find it odd that Russia claimed that the West interfered with the Russian elections given that Russia has been accused of the same thing. Of course, Russia is totally right and we did everything we could to help his opponents beat him. According to the intelligence community it's ok when we do it, but as far as I am concerned we don't have a moral leg to stand on when it comes to election interference.
Still, Putin is not exactly our friend, to say the least. I am not very happy with how he exploited this diplomatic row with the UK for his own election even though he was probably going to win anyways. It would be nice if we had a leader in Russia that wasn't so cynical.
It seems very likely that Putin will rule for life. He's scheduled to be out in 2024 but he managed to keep in power despite term limits. He has changed the rules before and I am guessing if he wants to keep ruling in 2024 he will probably find away. I don't see him leaving for reasons other than health anytime soon.
What happens in Russia after Putin is gone? Who knows? There isn't really an opposition party that has any credible candidates and Putin hasn't named any successors. I am sure they will come up with somebody but who that will be is not something I can speculate on.
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