Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting on agriculture in Rostov region, Russia, September 24, 2015. REUTERS/ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/RIA NOVOSTI/KREMLIN
Leonid Bershidsky, Japan Times/Bloomberg: Putin had a bad 2018; next year will be worse
BERLIN - At his annual press conference last Thursday, a beatific Vladimir Putin said his re-election victory and the soccer World Cup held in Russia were the highlights of 2018. That’s a remarkably upbeat assessment of a year that was by no means one of the Russian president’s best.
He won another term in March with 77 percent of the vote, but, as in every election in the Putin era, researchers have found statistical evidence of vote-rigging. Although the fraud worked for Putin, it failed to produce results in a series of gubernatorial elections this year. Even though the Kremlin managed to reassert control over key regions such as the Maritime Territory in the Far East, voters are finding it easier to resist manipulation and cheating.
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WNU Editor: Even though he won this year's Presidential election .... everyone is now seeing him as a lame duck. And even though the next Russian Presidential election is 5 years away, everyone in Russia's political establishment who wants the Presidency or who want to play a major role in the next President's administration are now positioning themselves to accomplish just that. There is also the sentiment of the public .... especially those under the age of 30 .... who want real political change and reforms. Their numbers are only growing. My prediction. Russian President Putin's power and influence will wane with each passing year .... and opposition to him will grow. 2018 may not have been a good year for him .... but it is all downhill from now on.
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