Vladimir Putin’s triumphant re-election as head of Russia raises questions about a possible drift towards tsarist rule. Re-elected for a fifth term, Putin is seeking to strengthen his grip on the international stage. Despite Western criticism and internal protests, the Russian president persists in his determination to put an end to Western hegemony, thus heightening geopolitical tensions.
The result was predictable and indisputable. Following the Russian elections that ended on March 17, Vladimir Putin was re-elected with an impressive 87.28% of the vote.
The Russian president, who had the constitution revised in 2020 to extend his presidential term until 2036, has already served four terms, including two four-year terms and two six-year terms, with an interlude as prime minister between 2008 and 2012. At the age of 71, he has been in power for 25 years, and is now seeking a 5th term.
The other candidates hardly challenged the official line. Boris Nadejdine, in favor of ending the war in Ukraine, was eliminated from the election, as was Ekaterina Duntsova, who advocated ending the “special military operation” and decentralizing power. The main opponent, Alexei Navalny, died mysteriously a month before the election.
Freshly elected, Vladimir Putin declared that Russia would not be intimidated by any form of opposition. “It doesn’t matter who wants to intimidate us or how much, it doesn’t matter who wants to crush us or how much, our will or our conscience. No one has ever succeeded in doing anything like this in history. It didn’t work today and it won’t work in the future,” he said in front of his enthusiastic campaign team.
On Monday, March 18, the President went to Moscow’s Red Square to a jubilant crowd. Present for a concert celebrating the tenth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, Vladimir Putin was accompanied by his presidential rivals. All sang the Russian national anthem with the crowd, before Vladimir Putin celebrated the “return to the fatherland” of the Ukrainian territories that Moscow had annexed. Yet another provocation to the inhabitants of a country on fire and bled to death.
Click here to read the entire article on Luxus Magazine.
Featured photo : © Wikimedia Commons
