Russians grant Putin right to extend his rule until 2036 in landslide vote: partial results
Source: Reuters
Russians appeared to have paved the way for Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036 by voting overwhelmingly for a package of constitutional changes which will also boost pensions, partial results of a nationwide vote showed on Wednesday.
Results, after almost a third of ballots had been counted, indicated that the former KGB officer who has ruled Russia for more than two decades as president or prime minister would easily win the right to run for two more terms. That means he could remain president for 16 more years.
Russians have been encouraged to vote with prize draws offering flats and an ad campaign highlighting other constitutional amendments in the same reform bundle, such as the pensions protection and a de facto ban on same-sex marriages.
One-off payments of 10,000 roubles ($141) were transferred to those with children at Putins order as people headed to polling stations on Wednesday, the last day of the vote, held over seven days to try to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-vote/russians-grant-putin-right-to-extend-his-rule-until-2036-in-landslide-vote-initial-results-show-idUSKBN24254A
bullimiami
(13,037 posts)AZ8theist
(5,338 posts)onetexan
(12,994 posts)Xolodno
(6,330 posts)Igel
(35,191 posts)Doesn't matter, except to those who don't like outcomes.
Nobody seriously expected anything different.
I'm sure that a superficial audit, had Putin wanted some international organization predisposed to him to come in and monitor things, would have showed it to be a most excellently conducted election. Meet the requirements of the rubric, you get a 100; don't need to actually do much, if the rubric's written to promote high grades and low learning. As is the norm.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)fleur-de-lisa
(14,615 posts)Igel
(35,191 posts)Lots of options. But it required a majority vote.
If you control the population, you don't need to cheat. Keep the wrong things from being said, make sure only the right things *are* said, and if anybody steps out of line, make sure there's some sort of peer pressure to rein him in. Make sure it's a moral issue that's at stake, esp. one of victimization, and you can't lose. To say, "Can we discuss this?" is to show that you're a traitor and your life (and that of your family) is a good target for destruction.
It's the standard soft totalitarian BS. Not all totalitarianism comes branded фашистский.
sakabatou
(42,082 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)gov't that isn't dictatorial.
Captain Zero
(6,714 posts)they will get a an authoritarian of one ilk or another.
magicarpet
(13,935 posts)trDumpie wants to import the idea here so it becomes his road to a lifetime Fascist Monarchy too - for himself and succeeding heirs to his crown.
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)madashelltoo
(1,685 posts)Who would have ever thought such a thing could happen? The Orange Infant is stomping and banging all over the White House because mom (vote) told him, no.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Trump will be insanely jealous.
Thomas Hurt
(13,903 posts)guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)patphil
(6,024 posts)Roy Rolling
(6,853 posts)Easily pleased, easily displeased
People who take $141 in exchange for looking the other way while Russia collapses, will just as easily turn on him when theyre hungry and theres no bread on the store shelves.
Hes a thief and a military aggressor. When he looks outside of Russia to steal what he failed to offer citizens under oligarchy, thats when the sh*t hits the fan.
Hip2bSquare
(291 posts)putin has to remain in power. He is nothing without it. All his money is tied up in illegal schemes and/or stolen. He's spied on, jailed and killed critics. He's run free and roughshod over eastern Europe. He is a weak man with a target on his back internally and externally. Russian oligarchs are loyal to putin as long as he's in power...
denem
(11,045 posts)I voted for the amendments to the constitution, Moscow resident Mikhail Volkov said. We need radical changes and Im for them.
Radical change is allowing Putin to continue in office?"
BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)then bribed them to vote.
regnaD kciN
(26,035 posts)Don't be surprised when November 4th rolls around, and the news channels are breathlessly reporting the surprise "landslide" re-election win for Trump...
BigmanPigman
(51,430 posts)"President Vladimir Putin erupted in Moscow in December 2011, Putin made clear who he thought was really behind them: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton."
"With the protesters accusing Putin of having rigged recent elections, the Russian leader pointed an angry finger at Clinton, who had issued a statement sharply critical of the voting results. She said they were dishonest and unfair, Putin fumed in public remarks, saying that Clinton gave a signal to demonstrators working with the support of the U.S. State Department to undermine his power. We need to safeguard ourselves from this interference in our internal affairs, Putin declared."
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/clinton-putin-226153
He does have opposition in Russia but we know how that goes....
"Russian opposition figure and prominent Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny dismissed the official results of the vote on constitutional amendments as "fake" and "a huge lie."
"Right now a huge number of people is frustrated by the result. I voted 'no,' everyone around voted 'no', and the result is a solid 'yes," Navalny wrote in a blogpost. "This has nothing to do with the opinion of Russian citizens."
"Putin lost this "vote" before it began. After all, he refused to hold a real referendum in accordance with all the rules and with observers present. Because he understood: if there are rules -- he will lose. He can only win where he draws numbers," Navalny added."
"Independent organizations have cast doubt on the numbers and the referendum drew criticism from monitoring groups for lack of regulation."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/europe/russia-referendum-putin-power-2036-intl/index.html
NEOBuckeye
(2,778 posts)lordsummerisle
(4,649 posts)Progressive Jones
(6,011 posts)Yeehah
(4,523 posts)so no surprises here.