Vladimir Putin has said he will run for president in the March 2024 election, moving the longtime Russian leader a step closer to a fifth term in office.
The announcement on Friday was widely expected and there is little question about the outcome.
Putin has dominated Russia’s political system and the media for the past two decades, jailing prominent opposition politicians, such as Alexei Navalny and Ilya Yashin, who could challenge him on the ballot. Putin has won previous elections by a landslide, but independent election watchdogs say they were marred by widespread fraud.
Putin’s long-term spokesperson in a previous interview said: “Putin will be re-elected next year with more than 90% of the vote”.
It displays those countries that have never had a strong history of democracy will struggle to not fall back into Fascism, Communism, or some form of military control via a dictatorship.
It’s been interesting over my life from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the new Russia and former soviet block countries having sampled western ways.
It’s been interesting to see limits on how long one can run for office in Russia was worked around with swapping roles of president and premier early on to a outright change of removing such limits.
I recall the older generations in these countries longing for the good old days of their memories when bumps in the road arise. The Soviets were some good guys they said. That was when things was great for them. Much better than the western experiment turned out.
We also see the purges throughout the Communist party in China and the removal of limits so one can become the ruler for life.
Many countries around slipped back into Fascism, Communism, dictatorships, cults of personalities, with America barely holding on to not circling down this same drain in the past few years with those wanting to see these same changes to limits and even restricting voting in a country with one of the strongest histories of voting freedom. It’s been odd to see the right embrace their love for Russia when traditionally that was very not patriotic behavior that would see many blacklisted. It’s a badfe of honour now for many like those that fly Nazi flags in the streets.
As the world continues to go right, it’s been interesting to see how much goes wrong. I wonder if this is how things were getting in the run up to the first. world war with the chaos and extremism running amuck then.