Posted on 01/27/2018 10:35:37 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
The Russian government is bracing itself for mass protests in cities across the country.
They have been called by anti corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, who was barred from running in the upcoming presidential elections because of a dubious fraud conviction.
Katya Gordon will be joining them.
She told Sky News: "Once Putin said that he wants to be a president again, the election was finished and there is no chance, because the system is too powerful and it is made to work for the main idea that the powerful people should have their power and they don't care about the people."
There are other candidates running against Mr Putin, but all, it seems, carefully vetted by the Kremlin.
There is farm manager-turned-candidate Pavel Grudinin, who compares himself to Donald Trump.
Then there is Ksenia Sobchak, a TV host turned presidential hopeful.
She confronted the president at a recent Q and A session, but critics said it was all for show. She is, after all, the daughter of a man who was once Mr Putin's political mentor.
The government doesn't just choose who runs, but controls the media and even, to some extent, the opinion polls.
So Mr Putin's challenge is not so much winning - that is almost a foregone conclusion.
Instead, it is getting enough people to vote to make this election look even vaguely credible.
If he is re-elected but on a very low turnout it will be a damning indictment of what - under current rules - will be his last term as president.
There is a lot more at stake than Mr Putin's pride, however.
Katya is not the only one worried about the future of democracy in her country.
"If they wont change their rules of play one day we will have a revolution really."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
"Russians are very calm and very lazy for a long time but then something happens and we stand and we begin to fight because we cannot stand it anymore." - Katya Gordon, Russian media personality
My observations while there also.
The outcome is predetermined, therefore nothing is at stake.
“” “” Katya Gordon””” “
LOL. Would Mickey Mouse run too?
Bingo. The biggest question of these elections is who’d get the distant second place.
A wannabe Hugo Chaves - Grudinin of Communists or Jirinovski of Liberal Democrats.
It is not that I am a sympathizer but I’d like to see Lib’s on the second place.
That would be a sign of Russia catching up with civilization and finally parted with Communism.
“mass protests in cities across the country”
The stupid anti-putin propaganda is full of plausible information.
Defend why Putin should be in power longer than Stalin please.
And there already were mass protests last spring in over 100 cities and the Kremlin freaked. So no I don’t expect the same tomorrow because the govt is prepared to handle them this time.
Putin’s enormous personal popularity has guaranteed him a fourth term.
But he immediately becomes a lame duck because the Russian Constitution bars any one from serving more than two consecutive terms.
Behind the scenes, the jockeying for the post-Putin era is already beginning.
And clearly you’re the one doped up on propaganda. You’ll flip out in Moscow when you see “What? They’re not all white?!” Not only that, but millions are Muslim. You don’t even know the basics of Russian demography 101.
Indeed. Should be interesting.
The other candidates are expected to finish under 20%.
Putin will win big in Russia’s vast countryside. His opponents will do well in the cities but by not enough to overcome his rural lead.
That’s how Milos Zeman won the Czech presidential election.
The people in the Czech countryside are doing a heck of a lot better than the ones in the Russian. You should look into thr poverty rates, the living standards, the corruption in municipal and regional govts, the atrocious state of hospitals and medical care etc...
Putin still has loyalty but its not as unshakeable as one thinks. If they had genuinely free elections and genuinely good options to choose from - you’d be surprised.
Cczechs have genuinely free elections.
Czechs’ life expectancy is a full decade higher than that of Russians.
Stop the parallels. There is no comparison.
“mass protests” are thirty people, ten of them senile Communists in their 80s who wants pensions ‘like in Europe’ and the rest are millennials who are out of work due to useless degrees and being lazy. The latter would say Putin has stolen their opportunities although visiting job interviews instead of protesting is better strategy.
So easy to comment afar in a free Western online forum.
And just because you don’t show up to a protest doesn’t mean you’re for Putin. It could just mean your scared to get acid thrown on you, pepper sprayed intermittenly in jail, or beaten up by clubs, and have a permanent mark on your record precluding you from future employment.
Russians don’t compare themselves to Europe.
Everyone remembers under Yeltsin, wealthy oligarchs stole the country’s wealth and the ill-managed transition to a market economy impoverished millions.
Plus the central state was weak and incapable of enforcing its own laws much less than being able to defend Russian national interests.
Putin reversed all that and love him or hate him, he has made Russia a strong and respected country.
Whether its freer than in the Soviet time is open to debate.
You say like it is a kind of East Germany. There are online forums in Russia too. It is not a police state so far.
It’s a button on the Putinbot machines called “excuse” and you press it and the automated recording starts “back in the 90s...”
You’re right, Russians don’t compare themselves to Europe. Worse!
America. And it kills them to admit it sometimes, but they’re bitter as they see us as the power they could and should have become.
If you respect Putin and Russia so much, I recommend you try living under him. FYI: 1/4 of Russian males don’t make it to age 55.
Right unless you make a movie critical of Stalin.
“” “” Defend why Putin should be in power longer than Stalin please.”” “”
Merkel is longer in power than Hitler. Why doesn’t it shock you?
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