Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Anti-Putin politics

Putin Claims Victory in Russian Election

Russian voters overwhelmingly granted Vladimir V. Putin a six-year term as president on Sunday, a long-predicted outcome that set the stage for a far more suspenseful post-election confrontation between Mr. Putin and opposition groups.

“We have won,” Mr. Putin declared to a huge throng of supporters right outside the Kremlin walls, a tear running down his cheek. “We have gained a clean victory!” He added, “We won! Glory to Russia.”…

Early returns showed Mr. Putin winning about 60 percent of the vote, comfortably above the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. Not long after the polls closed in Moscow, tens of thousands of Kremlin supporters gathered in Manezhnaya Square for a victory celebration and concert…

Mr. Putin did little traditional campaigning and refused to debate his opponents, but still engaged in some of the most aggressive election-year politicking of his career. He postponed for six months the annual increase in household utility charges, the largest expense for most Russian families; increased pensions and military salaries; and promising an avalanche of new government spending…

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Labels: elections, leadership, Russia