Posted on 08/09/2019 11:19:47 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Twenty years ago on Friday, Russian president Boris Yeltsin appointed his fourth prime minister in less than 18 months: Vladimir Putin, then a relatively unknown security services chief with scant experience of politics.
The departing Yeltsin was casting around for a successor and few could have predicted that two decades later Putin would still be ruling Russia, having taken on a dominant role in world affairs.
But the anniversary comes at a time of uncertainty in the leader's reign.
Putin's approval ratings remain at a level most Western leaders would envy but they have taken a hit from a stalling economy and declining living standards.
A protest movement in Moscow has meanwhile seen thousands arrested in recent weeks -- the largest crackdown since a wave of demonstrations against Putin returning to the Kremlin in 2012 after another spell as prime minister.
The 66-year-old is meanwhile facing a succession drama of his own.
This is his last term in office according to the Russian constitution but -- after stamping out the competition and taking control of most of the media -- there is no obvious figure to replace him. Analysts say it is unlikely that Russia's longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin will give up power completely when his current term ends in 2024.
Political analyst Konstantin Kalachev explained, “Putin's popularity rating is now completely different from the one he had before. Previously, people truly worshiped him and not just supported him. Today, his popularity is based on the absence of an alternative, on the principle of ‘as long as it is not any worse’.”
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
Putin is a thug. And that’s apparently what Russians want in a leader. However I prefer Putin to that jacka$$ PM of France. You can count on Putin to act in what he sees as Russia’s best interest. That can’t be said for most European leaders.
That makes Putin somewhat predictable and someone who can be dealt with. He might even keep his word from time to time. Euroweenies greenies won’t. They are entirely treacherous. Look at Merkel and Macron ruining their own countries. They are owned by the Intl Banks. They are traitors just like Clinton and Obozo.
WTF is broken in the Russian mind and soul that they just can’t bear to be without an autocrat in charge? Tsars, Party Secretary and now Putin.
and when he has to leave he just changes their useless Constitution ,LOL
That’s a universal trend worldwide. The reason is because democratic institutions are unreliable and easily to manipulate by external forces often with ulterior motives.
Expect the republican form of government to wane in a few decades.
We are seeing now a sort of realignment similar to that in between ancient times and dark ages.
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