Sunday 27 November 2011

Putin, worried about his sinking popularity, again puts the blame on the West

Putin in KGB uniform

Russia´s dictator, the wife beater and philanderer Vladimir Putin - soon to be recrowned "president" -has again warned the West of "interfering" in Russia´s votes. The former second, or rather third rate KGB spy is clearly worried about his own sinking popularity (you may remember how he was booed on television only a few days ago by ordinary Russians). The old KGB handbook - which Putin always turns to - calls for blaming the West in these kind of situations. But it may very well be that Putin´s "bible" is now seriously out of date:

Russia will hold a crucial parliamentary vote next week, followed by presidential elections in March next year.
“Representatives of some foreign states” were paying politically-active NGOs in Russia to “influence the course of the election campaign in our country,” Putin said to a roar of approval and applause.
Such defiant rhetoric has come to dominate Russian political discourse since liberal revolutions in neighboring Ukraine and Georgia in the early 2000s forced pro-Kremlin leaders from power there.
“It would be better if they used this money to pay off their national debt and stop conducting an ineffective and costly foreign policy,” he added in a clear reference to the debt-ridden United States.
Lilia Shibanova, the head of Russia’s main independent observer group Golos, said Putin’s stinging warning reveals his “total misunderstanding” of the current climate in Russia.
“They have cornered themselves by creating the only governing party, by impeding normal political competition and turning the political process into a monopoly,” Shibanova said. “This has nothing to do with monitoring.”
“What they’ll get is even fiercer protests of the [liberal] opposition,” she added.

Read the entire article here

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