Russia after the election: a review of the British press
In this review, devoted to the topic of the last presidential election, I focused on several English newspapers. In articles and notes taken for digest, I have translated only the main. Much has been omitted. Before you - just a review. On a topic that has not yet had time to cool.
Edition: "Mirror". Publication date: March 5 2012 g., 01: 01. By: Christopher Walker. The article: "Vladimir Putin is the devil we know."
K. Walker notes in his note that Putin “does not like the West, especially the United States, and he will not compromise on key issues of foreign policy.
For example, the journalist writes, it is unlikely that his re-election will weaken support for Syria, the Kremlin’s last ally in the Middle East. ”
Next, Walker moves to an artistic style: “But he may be a better option than his competitors. The best devil you know. ”
Walker informs readers that Vladimir Putin is "cold, oppressive and strict ... he is very strict, this former KGB man."
The journalist believes that Putin has the image of a tough athlete and is photographed "shirtless, riding or doing judo."
In addition, according to the author of the note, Putin, in contrast to “from many Russian leaders, is not drinking ...”
Edition: "Mirror". Publication date: March 4 2012 g., 21: 44. Posted by: Steve White The article: "Putin won the Russian elections because army reinforcements were planned before mass protests."
The article says that “Vladimir Putin has returned to the Kremlin today,” but his victory was accompanied by reports of fraud.
“Putin,” writes White, “easily defeated the other four contenders for the Russian presidency - with about 60% of votes, as reported by exit polls.
However, - the journalist continues, - there have been complaints about the apparent juggling of the voting results on a huge scale - by teams of hard-guy supporters who go to polling stations to vote several times. ”
The closest rival to the former KGB spy, the old Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, as just reported, scored just 17%. ”
White believes that the victory in the election of Vladimir Putin can "undoubtedly cause mass protests - after the number of charges of fraud, more than even in December ..."
As an argument about the "accusations of fraud," the journalist cites the following information: "Observers from the opposition say that Russians got on buses and used such voting documents as absentee ballots to get ballots from corrupt officials: this deception known as “carousel voting”, it is so called because voters go to polling stations from everywhere. ”
White cites the words of Alexei Navalny: "We, of course, expected the roundabout, but not to that extent."
Golos, according to White, reported “outrageous abuses” generated by “absentee ballots and bribing voters.”
“The correspondents,” the journalist notes, “confirmed that there was more than 100 buses on one of the Moscow squares, apparently filled with young people from the regions who arrived in the city to vote for Putin.
“I voted for Putin,” said a young man who could not explain why he arrived in Moscow from Belomorsk, located at a distance of 600 miles, in the cold north.
Similar messages were received from other Russian cities.
Female demonstrators exposed their breasts at the Moscow polling station where Putin had just voted. ”
The article cites Mikhail Gorbachev’s words: “Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union and Putin’s critic, said, voting:“ There will be no fair elections. ”
However, the journalist notes, “Putin was deeply moved, with tears rolling down his cheeks, told 110000 supporters near the Kremlin:“ We won in an open and honest fight. ”
“Evidence of widespread fraud,” writes White, “in a vote in parliamentary elections in December, motivated tens of thousands of people to speak out against Putin, who was president in 2000-2008. before taking the chair of the prime minister, because of the time limit.
It was the largest outbreak of public discontent in post-Soviet Russia, says the journalist, who demonstrated growing irritation with mass corruption, increasing social inequality and tight control over Putin’s political life. ”
Edition: The Guardian. Publication date: 5 March 2012 g., 22.21 GMT. Note: “Reaction to the Russian elections:“ Dear Vlad. Russian people are crying too. ” Subtitle: "The reaction of world leaders and members of the Russian opposition and activists to the victory of Vladimir Putin."
I will cite several pieces from the collection of statements:
“Wishing President Putin and his team all the best, the Venezuelan government reaffirms its commitment to deepening strategic relations between the two countries.” Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez. ”
“Dear Vlad, I'm surprised! Surprised! You won. Russian people are crying too! ”US Senator John McCain is on Twitter.
“These elections were unfair, despite some innovations in the election process and unimpeded campaign opportunities. It is clear that the media influenced in favor of one candidate, while not providing fair coverage of other candidates. ” Tonino Pikula, Head of the OSCE Mission of Observers. ”
“He is seriously wounded [Putin], one might even say, mortally wounded as a political leader. I have no doubt that he will not survive the next six years. ” Garry Kasparov, "chess champion activist."
"I congratulate him [Putin], as well as the friendly government and people [of Russia] ... on his election as president of the Russian Federation." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Russia must continue its modernization, and, in my opinion as the Chancellor, it cannot simply be an economic or technical modernization ... It must be a political and social modernization." German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "
"The United States congratulates the Russian people on the completion of the presidential election and hopes to cooperate with the elected president after the results are confirmed and he will be sworn in." State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. ”
Edition: The Guardian. Publication date: 5 March 2012 g., 21.50 GMT. The article: “Putin’s presence became tangible because the protesters took to the streets of Moscow.” Author: Miriam Elder (from Moscow).
“Thousands of Russians passed through metal sensors for hours, past covered trucks and under crackling helicopters to join the mass protest against the official return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin,” writes Miriam Elder.
The journalist quotes the words of one of the activists: “This is an unprecedented falsification,” said 65-year-old office manager Ivan, explaining why he was here on a working day and stood for two hours in a wet snowy wind. - I want our country to be democratic. I want to be ruled not by crooks and thieves, but by normal people. I want society to be democratized, so that various movements can take part in the elections, so that different people can participate in the presidential elections. I want them to stop robbing the country. ”
For 20.000, the people involved in the protests, Elder remarks, Putin was not the president, but the king.
Elder quotes words from the poster: “They fucked us again,” and calls this poster the quintessential feeling of the protesters.
The long article also tells about 21-year-old Alice, who came to Moscow on Monday from Orenburg, together with her friend, to participate in the protest. They made such a decision after “Putin’s belligerent speech about victory, which he delivered at the time when less than 30% of votes were counted - on Sunday evening. “I disagree with yesterday’s election,” said Alice. - We need a new government. We need change. ”
The following tells about 17-year-old Olga, who believes that “there is injustice in the government and in the country”. “17-year-old Olga was only five years old when Putin came to power, anointed by former President Boris Yeltsin at 1999. If Putin will serve a full six-year term, then she will become a college graduate by then. If he serves a second term, as the constitution allows, she will be almost 30. ”
Edition: The Guardian. Publication date: 5 March 2012 g., 15.20 GMT. Article: “Putin’s Tears: Why Are You Sad, Vlad?” By: Luke Harding.
The author of the article gives “five lessons that we can learn from high presidential feelings”.
Harding believes that, firstly, Putin had tears in his eyes because "recent unprecedented street protests frightened him." Arguments: “It’s hard to remember another public case where Putin would be so emotional. ... Putin made it clear that ... dark forces are plotting against him. He said that the ultimate goal of the demonstrators is to "destroy Russian statehood and usurp power." However, the journalist notes, “there is no evidence to support Putin’s fantasies that his opponents are Western puppets. Most likely, the demonstrators are simply fed up with Putin’s corrupt system and his revelation that he privately agreed with Dmitry Medvedev for a third time in the Kremlin - regardless of whether Russian voters want him there or not. ”
“The demands of the demonstrators,” writes a British journalist, “are in fact modest: re-checking the results of the December elections; the release of political prisoners; dismissal of the head of the Russian elections, who discredited himself. Their moods are not revolutionary. ”
Secondly, according to Harding: "The Kremlin experts in the formation of public opinion have an explanation for everything." A presidential spokesman, Harding notes, “came up with an ingenious explanation: it was the wind. The Prime Minister’s tearfulness had nothing to do with his excited emotional state, Dmitry Peskov said, its reason was the icy wind ... ”Harding doubts this explanation, saying further, that“ this is funny. ”
Thirdly, according to Harding, “Putin’s reconstruction was not successful.” The journalist writes about the previously held "preparation" for the return of Putin to the presidency. “The observers,” Harding says further, “noticed that the bags and wrinkles under his eyes mysteriously disappeared, and his cheekbones became strangely smooth. Yesterday's close-up of Putin on the stage, of course, confirms the loyalty of rumors about surgery. But old Putin looked much better ... ”Judging by the text of the article, the journalist liked“ Putin skiing down from volcanoes, fighting with arctic polar bears and descending fearlessly to the bottom of a Siberian lake in a close submarine. ”
Fourthly, according to Harding, political humor returned to Russia - precisely from Vladimir Putin’s tears. The journalist cites some jokes, starting with Putin's eating onions and ending with the reminiscence of the film “Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears”. Harding believes that the renaissance of humor is “something fresh”, although Russia has “traditions of political satire”.
Finally, the fifth cause of tears, according to the British journalist, is the realization by the new president that the protests will not cease.
However, the Briton notes, there is “a more elegant explanation: despite his reputation as a tough guy from the KGB, Putin is perhaps sentimental. As Nabokov pointed out in the Lectures on Literature, Lenin had both a sentimental and cruel side. ”
Edition: "Daily Telegraph". Publication date: March 5 2012. Article: “Vladimir Putin continues his way. But Russians are fed up with his shadow methods. ”Posted by David Blair, Foreign Telegraph’s chief foreign correspondent.
David Blair begins with a warning: “If crying Vladimir Putin was deeply moved by his victory in the Russian elections, he could recall that the two Arab dictators who were overthrown last year — Mubarak in Egypt and Ben Ali in Tunisia — were previously re-elected by an overwhelming majority votes.
Blair ponders - over the course of one paragraph - about whether Putin’s success, having won the election with 63% of votes, will become a new chapter in his “political downgrade”, or, on the contrary, will be the beginning of a “real uplift”? Rather, the author is inclined to the first than to the second, since in the article he talks about corruption in Russia, about slowing down the economy and about the fact that “the real wages for the majority no longer grows ...”
At the same time, the journalist records the fact that Putin “retains great public support,” noting, however, that “few expect Putin to last two six-year terms in a row to which he now has the right. Does anyone seriously think that he will be in power until 2024 year? - the British correspondent asks. - At least, it seems likely that this will be his deadline. If so, then the question of a successor, ”concludes Blair’s article,“ can be the main topic of Russian politics. ”
* * *
Edition: "Mirror". Publication date: March 5 2012 g., 01: 01. By: Christopher Walker. The article: "Vladimir Putin is the devil we know."
K. Walker notes in his note that Putin “does not like the West, especially the United States, and he will not compromise on key issues of foreign policy.
For example, the journalist writes, it is unlikely that his re-election will weaken support for Syria, the Kremlin’s last ally in the Middle East. ”
Next, Walker moves to an artistic style: “But he may be a better option than his competitors. The best devil you know. ”
Walker informs readers that Vladimir Putin is "cold, oppressive and strict ... he is very strict, this former KGB man."
The journalist believes that Putin has the image of a tough athlete and is photographed "shirtless, riding or doing judo."
In addition, according to the author of the note, Putin, in contrast to “from many Russian leaders, is not drinking ...”
Edition: "Mirror". Publication date: March 4 2012 g., 21: 44. Posted by: Steve White The article: "Putin won the Russian elections because army reinforcements were planned before mass protests."
The article says that “Vladimir Putin has returned to the Kremlin today,” but his victory was accompanied by reports of fraud.
“Putin,” writes White, “easily defeated the other four contenders for the Russian presidency - with about 60% of votes, as reported by exit polls.
However, - the journalist continues, - there have been complaints about the apparent juggling of the voting results on a huge scale - by teams of hard-guy supporters who go to polling stations to vote several times. ”
The closest rival to the former KGB spy, the old Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, as just reported, scored just 17%. ”
White believes that the victory in the election of Vladimir Putin can "undoubtedly cause mass protests - after the number of charges of fraud, more than even in December ..."
As an argument about the "accusations of fraud," the journalist cites the following information: "Observers from the opposition say that Russians got on buses and used such voting documents as absentee ballots to get ballots from corrupt officials: this deception known as “carousel voting”, it is so called because voters go to polling stations from everywhere. ”
White cites the words of Alexei Navalny: "We, of course, expected the roundabout, but not to that extent."
Golos, according to White, reported “outrageous abuses” generated by “absentee ballots and bribing voters.”
“The correspondents,” the journalist notes, “confirmed that there was more than 100 buses on one of the Moscow squares, apparently filled with young people from the regions who arrived in the city to vote for Putin.
“I voted for Putin,” said a young man who could not explain why he arrived in Moscow from Belomorsk, located at a distance of 600 miles, in the cold north.
Similar messages were received from other Russian cities.
Female demonstrators exposed their breasts at the Moscow polling station where Putin had just voted. ”
The article cites Mikhail Gorbachev’s words: “Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union and Putin’s critic, said, voting:“ There will be no fair elections. ”
However, the journalist notes, “Putin was deeply moved, with tears rolling down his cheeks, told 110000 supporters near the Kremlin:“ We won in an open and honest fight. ”
“Evidence of widespread fraud,” writes White, “in a vote in parliamentary elections in December, motivated tens of thousands of people to speak out against Putin, who was president in 2000-2008. before taking the chair of the prime minister, because of the time limit.
It was the largest outbreak of public discontent in post-Soviet Russia, says the journalist, who demonstrated growing irritation with mass corruption, increasing social inequality and tight control over Putin’s political life. ”
Edition: The Guardian. Publication date: 5 March 2012 g., 22.21 GMT. Note: “Reaction to the Russian elections:“ Dear Vlad. Russian people are crying too. ” Subtitle: "The reaction of world leaders and members of the Russian opposition and activists to the victory of Vladimir Putin."
I will cite several pieces from the collection of statements:
“Wishing President Putin and his team all the best, the Venezuelan government reaffirms its commitment to deepening strategic relations between the two countries.” Venezuelan government of Hugo Chávez. ”
“Dear Vlad, I'm surprised! Surprised! You won. Russian people are crying too! ”US Senator John McCain is on Twitter.
“These elections were unfair, despite some innovations in the election process and unimpeded campaign opportunities. It is clear that the media influenced in favor of one candidate, while not providing fair coverage of other candidates. ” Tonino Pikula, Head of the OSCE Mission of Observers. ”
“He is seriously wounded [Putin], one might even say, mortally wounded as a political leader. I have no doubt that he will not survive the next six years. ” Garry Kasparov, "chess champion activist."
"I congratulate him [Putin], as well as the friendly government and people [of Russia] ... on his election as president of the Russian Federation." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Russia must continue its modernization, and, in my opinion as the Chancellor, it cannot simply be an economic or technical modernization ... It must be a political and social modernization." German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "
"The United States congratulates the Russian people on the completion of the presidential election and hopes to cooperate with the elected president after the results are confirmed and he will be sworn in." State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. ”
Edition: The Guardian. Publication date: 5 March 2012 g., 21.50 GMT. The article: “Putin’s presence became tangible because the protesters took to the streets of Moscow.” Author: Miriam Elder (from Moscow).
“Thousands of Russians passed through metal sensors for hours, past covered trucks and under crackling helicopters to join the mass protest against the official return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin,” writes Miriam Elder.
The journalist quotes the words of one of the activists: “This is an unprecedented falsification,” said 65-year-old office manager Ivan, explaining why he was here on a working day and stood for two hours in a wet snowy wind. - I want our country to be democratic. I want to be ruled not by crooks and thieves, but by normal people. I want society to be democratized, so that various movements can take part in the elections, so that different people can participate in the presidential elections. I want them to stop robbing the country. ”
For 20.000, the people involved in the protests, Elder remarks, Putin was not the president, but the king.
Elder quotes words from the poster: “They fucked us again,” and calls this poster the quintessential feeling of the protesters.
The long article also tells about 21-year-old Alice, who came to Moscow on Monday from Orenburg, together with her friend, to participate in the protest. They made such a decision after “Putin’s belligerent speech about victory, which he delivered at the time when less than 30% of votes were counted - on Sunday evening. “I disagree with yesterday’s election,” said Alice. - We need a new government. We need change. ”
The following tells about 17-year-old Olga, who believes that “there is injustice in the government and in the country”. “17-year-old Olga was only five years old when Putin came to power, anointed by former President Boris Yeltsin at 1999. If Putin will serve a full six-year term, then she will become a college graduate by then. If he serves a second term, as the constitution allows, she will be almost 30. ”
Edition: The Guardian. Publication date: 5 March 2012 g., 15.20 GMT. Article: “Putin’s Tears: Why Are You Sad, Vlad?” By: Luke Harding.
The author of the article gives “five lessons that we can learn from high presidential feelings”.
Harding believes that, firstly, Putin had tears in his eyes because "recent unprecedented street protests frightened him." Arguments: “It’s hard to remember another public case where Putin would be so emotional. ... Putin made it clear that ... dark forces are plotting against him. He said that the ultimate goal of the demonstrators is to "destroy Russian statehood and usurp power." However, the journalist notes, “there is no evidence to support Putin’s fantasies that his opponents are Western puppets. Most likely, the demonstrators are simply fed up with Putin’s corrupt system and his revelation that he privately agreed with Dmitry Medvedev for a third time in the Kremlin - regardless of whether Russian voters want him there or not. ”
“The demands of the demonstrators,” writes a British journalist, “are in fact modest: re-checking the results of the December elections; the release of political prisoners; dismissal of the head of the Russian elections, who discredited himself. Their moods are not revolutionary. ”
Secondly, according to Harding: "The Kremlin experts in the formation of public opinion have an explanation for everything." A presidential spokesman, Harding notes, “came up with an ingenious explanation: it was the wind. The Prime Minister’s tearfulness had nothing to do with his excited emotional state, Dmitry Peskov said, its reason was the icy wind ... ”Harding doubts this explanation, saying further, that“ this is funny. ”
Thirdly, according to Harding, “Putin’s reconstruction was not successful.” The journalist writes about the previously held "preparation" for the return of Putin to the presidency. “The observers,” Harding says further, “noticed that the bags and wrinkles under his eyes mysteriously disappeared, and his cheekbones became strangely smooth. Yesterday's close-up of Putin on the stage, of course, confirms the loyalty of rumors about surgery. But old Putin looked much better ... ”Judging by the text of the article, the journalist liked“ Putin skiing down from volcanoes, fighting with arctic polar bears and descending fearlessly to the bottom of a Siberian lake in a close submarine. ”
Fourthly, according to Harding, political humor returned to Russia - precisely from Vladimir Putin’s tears. The journalist cites some jokes, starting with Putin's eating onions and ending with the reminiscence of the film “Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears”. Harding believes that the renaissance of humor is “something fresh”, although Russia has “traditions of political satire”.
Finally, the fifth cause of tears, according to the British journalist, is the realization by the new president that the protests will not cease.
However, the Briton notes, there is “a more elegant explanation: despite his reputation as a tough guy from the KGB, Putin is perhaps sentimental. As Nabokov pointed out in the Lectures on Literature, Lenin had both a sentimental and cruel side. ”
Edition: "Daily Telegraph". Publication date: March 5 2012. Article: “Vladimir Putin continues his way. But Russians are fed up with his shadow methods. ”Posted by David Blair, Foreign Telegraph’s chief foreign correspondent.
David Blair begins with a warning: “If crying Vladimir Putin was deeply moved by his victory in the Russian elections, he could recall that the two Arab dictators who were overthrown last year — Mubarak in Egypt and Ben Ali in Tunisia — were previously re-elected by an overwhelming majority votes.
Blair ponders - over the course of one paragraph - about whether Putin’s success, having won the election with 63% of votes, will become a new chapter in his “political downgrade”, or, on the contrary, will be the beginning of a “real uplift”? Rather, the author is inclined to the first than to the second, since in the article he talks about corruption in Russia, about slowing down the economy and about the fact that “the real wages for the majority no longer grows ...”
At the same time, the journalist records the fact that Putin “retains great public support,” noting, however, that “few expect Putin to last two six-year terms in a row to which he now has the right. Does anyone seriously think that he will be in power until 2024 year? - the British correspondent asks. - At least, it seems likely that this will be his deadline. If so, then the question of a successor, ”concludes Blair’s article,“ can be the main topic of Russian politics. ”
Observed and translated by Oleg Chuvakin
- especially for topwar.ru
- especially for topwar.ru
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