Putin

Quit to fight another day!

Putin should resign to change his perception as a ruthless power hungry political leader; and then (rightfully) reclaim the throne a few months later – that’s a sleight Putin knows too well and has practised well in the past

“Putin is Stalin! Putin is Brezhnev! Russia without Putin!” The protest slogans broke the calm across Moscow’s streets on the occasion of May 1, 2010 – International Labour Day. What made this protest uniquely different from past protests was that this protest – ostensibly in criticism of Putin’s abuse of media freedom and democratic rights – was supported by around 1.7 million people in 1,000 cities across Russia over eight time zones. More than 40,000 people signed a petition demanding Putin’s resignation. One has to realise that in Russia, where Putin’s ruthless power wielding (and stymieing of opposition dissent – sometimes suspiciously violently or through undemocratic jailing) is compared often to mafiosi behaviour, for protestors to come out in the open en masse like this is an ocean of a change. Among the frontrunners in the protests was chess wizard and now political opponent Gary Kasparov.

Putin’s decisions regarding utilities prices, increased taxes on imported cars and environmental initiatives have provided a snowball effect for the wave of discontent. Of late, there have been many more such incidents. Starting from 2007, numerous “Dissenters’ Marches” were organized across various cities like Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod. On January 30, 2010 in Kaliningrad, around 10,000 people came together to protest against Putin’s decision to increase the transportation tax. And in March 10, 2010, Russian opposition activists started an online campaign.

Undeniably, there have been several incidents of human rights abuses and shocking assassinations, purportedly sponsored by the State. Particularly during the second Chechen War, corruption flourished and strengthened its roots and a new group of business lobbyist came into being (Gennady Timchenko, Vladimir Yakunin, Yuriy Kovalchuk and Sergey Chemezov) with personal linkages with Putin. The recent killings of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and newspaper reporter Anastasiya Baburova have further added fuel to fire and led to tensions with the EU President. Amnesty noted with grave concern in 2007 how Putin was rolling back civil rights in Russia. Another critical blot has been the continued trial of Russia’s richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, because he allegedly financed Putin’s opponents, apart from committing corporate fraud – he’s now serving an eight year sentence.

But then, there is a flamboyant other side to Putin too. Truly, Russia has enjoyed one of the most prosperous periods of growth under Putin after Boris Yeltsin left the country in a sorry state. Between 2000-2008, GDP growth peaked at 10% (2000) and saw 5 years of GDP growth over 7% (APEC). He devised strong policies in fiscal reforms, oil prices, and external financing. Russia experienced a PPP growth of 72%, poverty rates dropped by 50% and average salaries increased by eight times. So Putin’s enduring popularity, by far the highest in the world, isn’t surprising (In 2007, Putin’s approval rating was 81%; even in late 2009, post recession, it was still 65%; Levada Center public opinion surveys). Various surveys revealed that Russians felt the country was “more democratic” under Putin than during the Yeltsin or Gorbachev years.

Given all that, there can be no denying that for all it matters, there is no better choice than Putin that Russia currently has for a leader. Then how does one handle the increasing protests? The solution is pretty simple – and one that Putin has practised well in the past. Putin should resign from his position (for a few months perhaps) and let the protest brigade run out of steam. Once that happens, he should quietly step back and reclaim the throne. Well, it has been rightfully his for years...

Putin: Mismanaged Russian Media

A circus clown called Pravda!

Putin’s mouthpiece is a flabbergasting piece of shambles 

Oh, what all it could have achieved; and look at where it has ended. To say that the Russian government’s official mouthpiece (former, they claim), Pravda, has descended into becoming a ludicrous two crap piece of dimwit news creation, is to state only the tip of the Kremlin iceberg. There has been a lot of talk about Vladimir Lenin’s legacy. It requires no reiteration to praise his role in the development and progress of the Soviet Union. When it came to the Pravda of old, he left no stone unturned to take it to new heights and to make sure that it echoed the voice of the nation. Pravda used to follow Lenin’s editorial stance regularly and voiced what came to be known as Leninism. It was actually after the October Revolution of 1917 that Pravda started selling nearly 100,000 copies daily. Pravda expectably became an official publication of the Soviet Communist Party and a channel for announcing official policy. Decades – and many Soviet premiers – later, it fills one with sadness to see the pathetic state that Pravda has been left in. Sample a few of its breaking news.

On September 24, 2009, Pravda published news (and last month uploaded explicit videos too!) that featured a Russian based US diplomat Kyle Hatcher cavorting pleasurably with prostitutes. US Ambassador to Russia, John Beyrle, defended and clarified that the tape was “clearly fabricated.” As per Beyrle, “the video spliced genuine footage of diplomat Kyle Hatcher in a Moscow hotel room with staged footage of a couple having sex.” The attempt to frame Kyle seemed so ludicrous it could well have been managed by a high school kid. But then, this kind of zany tragicomic news is no stranger to Pravda. Take this multi-part series they had on the topic of sex in 2007. On April 18, 2007, Pravda presented their own version of a juiced up adultery survey on various countries. Fair enough. But six day later, the paper published news on sex museums, following the same within a week with a detailed report on how “future technologies may destroy sex as the ultimate pleasure for humans.” On May 7, 2007, the editorial team came out with a deeply thought review of breasts – about how various media outlets portray breasts differently.

One year earlier, in January, 2006, Pravda had headlined an article on Condoleezza Rice as follows: “The US Secretary of State released a coarse anti-Russian statement. This is because she is a single woman who has no children.” Their brilliant analysis commented, “[Rice] loses her reason because of her late single status. Nature takes it all... Such women are very rough. They are all workaholics, public workaholics. They can be happy only when they are talked and written about everywhere.” That sounds nothing compared to what they did in July 2008. In an article titled, “George and Laura Bush to divorce after election because of Condi Rice?” Pravda confirmed that “George W. Bush has been having an affair with US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. A former employee of the presidential administration told The National Examiner [sic!] that Laura Bush once spent her night in a hotel to stay away from the White House… Laura Bush will reportedly be paid $20 million in case she divorces her husband…” Another article was titled, “Condoleezza Rice’s sexual worries...”

It’s sad that Putin has chosen to ignore the ridiculous bunch of editors’ mob running the scallywag show in Pravda. Or perhaps he hasn’t. Whichever way it is, Pravda presents a huge opportunity for Putin to develop his international image in an intellectual manner. His recent dalliances with Russian Patriarch Kirill seem to be paying off double time with Kirill visiting many anti-Putin countries and regions in a successful attempt to change perceptions about Russia. Putin may not realise this, that despite the editors, Pravda has a huge international brand value. And yes, some of the current news reports seem to have obtained a saner tint. Even the website has become pretty upbeat. But unless Putin leverages Pravda to run international commentaries from the Krugmans and Friedmans of the world, the media vehicle’s potent strength would never be realised... Last we checked, Pravda was running Cindy Crawford’s bikini clad photographs as the opening views on its home page.