Opponent calls for Putin's exit as Russia slides into crisis

[uhnope]

Source: Reuters

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A prominent opponent has warned Vladimir Putin his days in power are numbered, as Russia awaits the president's response to the dramatic decline of the rouble.

Putin has been silent as the currency collapsed against the U.S. dollar this week before making up some of the lost ground on Wednesday, but he is sure to be asked about it at his end-of-year news conference starting at noon (0900 GMT) on Thursday.

Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, an ex-ally who is now an opposition leader, blamed the growing financial crisis on economic mismanagement by Putin, as well as Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and a fall in global oil prices. "Russia is going into decline," Kasyanov, 57, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday evening. "2015 is a year in which Putin must make a 'principle' decision."

Warning the president would face protests, he said Putin could choose a "further squeezing of the political environment", meaning a tightening of the screws on critics, or accept "he needs an exit strategy" and agree to hold free elections early. "As a result of that, (he should have) just a quiet departure through presidential elections. I don't believe he will win presidential elections if they are free and fair," Kasyanov said.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/opponent-calls-putins-exit-russia-slides-crisis-213021119.html

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Boom

[William769]

1. Kick & highly recommended.

Throw the Psycho out and put someone in that will speak for all the people of Russia.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025973753

[happyslug]

7. Didn't someone pay off the police?? The Russian Police expect payments....

Now in 2011, the Russian Government made an effort to reduce the level of corruption in the Police. The first renamed the Police, Police (since the Revolution of 1917 they Police in Russia had been known as "Militia" for "Police" had become a bad name by 1917). Second they reduce the number of Police Officers by 20% to the present level of 80,000. Third they increased pay.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_of_Russia

Now how much has changed since 2011 is unclear, but the pre 2011 Russian Police were noted for being hugely underpaid and were expected to make up the lack of pay in payments from civilians. Russian Police Pay is so low that it is rare to have a local take up the job, instead Moscow and other Cities recruit in rural areas with the promise of a house to live in that city. These rural residents thus make up almost all of the Police Officers in Russia and quickly learn they can supplement their pay by demanding bribes and other payments. Don't pay do not expect protection, pay you get protected.

This system was started under the Soviet Union and had became worse since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It did permit Moscow to have a HUGE Police Department, one of the largest, if not the largest in the world, but get what you pay for and the pre 2011 Moscow Police were just bad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_City_Police

80,000 officers for 11.5 million people or just under 144 people per officer.

Compared to the New York City Police Department:

49,526 for 8.4 million or just under 170 people per officer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Police_Department

The big question was the 20% cut in officers a reduction in force or a purge. If it was a purge, you would have a new mindset among the police for a purge goes after the people who benefited under the previous regime, thus corrupt officers would have been dismissed and that would send a signal to the rest of the Officer to get they act together.

On the other hand if the 20% cut was just a reduction in force, i.e. a lay off of the least senior officers, or some other form of layoff, then the rest of the Officers learned that what they had been doing was OK, just hide it better.

Now the press release said:

The overhaul will eliminate all officers who have had administrative penalties, as well as all officers linked to the criminal underworld. Lie detector tests are going to be administered to verify if officers are clean, or have a corrupt and criminal past. According to Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Bulavin, all policemen will also have to demonstrate their knowledge of Russian law and the Constitution.

http://rt.com/politics/police-reform-major-layoff/

Which in my opinion means nothing, most officer who took bribes were NOT subject to administrative Penalties, that was tied in with being drunk or having a fight with your other officers. The 20% was probably achieved by retiring some of the older officers, laying off some of the younger officers and removing the drunks. None of this would have had any effect on bribery.

The problem with corruption does NOT seem to have ended:

http://www.moscow.info/essentials/police.aspx

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/02/17/the-culture-of-corruption-russians-pay-but-they-dont-like-it-2/

Just a comment that the problem is the Police, but it is how the Police expect to be paid not anything more.

[William769]

8. Was it the police force that caused what happened at the Winter Olympics?

Was it the Police that got the draconian law passed against the LGBT community? and there is so much more.

Just a comment that no one believes the propaganda that gets posted on DU about the mountains of shit that flows out of Russia. But keep following in the steps of Baghdad Bob. Makes it real easy to see through all the shit.

[doc03]

2. Wow the bigger they are the harder they fall. Six months ago Putin

was at the top of the polls in Russia and a hero to our Republicans. A wounded and crazy bear could be dangerous.

[blm]

3. Obama and Kerry were smeared as foolish, reckless, naive for the course they set

with Russia.

Then for negotiating with Iran who are now cooperating with other nations to confront ISIL.

Then the China deal.

Now Cuba.

GOP predicts failure, roots for failure, and when they see successful results they'll lie and PRETEND it is failure.

[happyslug]

5. Putin is still on top of the polls, even this article states that:

Opinion polls show Putin has sky-high popularity ratings since annexing the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in March and suggest Kasyanov, who worked under him as premier until 2004, has little public support. But Kasyanov said opposition would quickly mount early next year as the economic crisis worsened.

[William769]

11. Opinion polls by State run media.

I really mean

[happyslug]

16. Other polls have shown Putin has massive support

Even his main opposition, the Communist and Social Democrats support him at the present time. That means he had support of over 90% of the population. Now at least 32% want a Communist or Social Democrat in Charge of Russia instead of Putin, but that is NOT an option at the present time.

[happyslug]

4. The economy takes a down turn and the GOP blames the President.....

That is all this is, even in the article they write:

Opinion polls show Putin has sky-high popularity ratings since annexing the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in March and suggest Kasyanov, who worked under him as premier until 2004, has little public support. But Kasyanov said opposition would quickly mount early next year as the economic crisis worsened.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

6. Mikhail shouldn't take any small planes.

[happyslug]

14. Why? his support within Russia is minimal, it not like he is the head of the Communist Party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Kasyanov

Allegations that Kasyanov took a two percent commission in exchange for ignoring bribes and illegal business ventures whilst he was working at the Ministry of Finance between 1993 and 1999 led to him being dubbed as "Misha 2 percent" in the Russian media.[15][16] In Russia's uncertain economic future, written for the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, the allegations are described as credible,[17] and a Spiegel article from 2007 notes that Kasyanov insists that his only earnings as a public servant was his government salary and he was only involved in one private business venture since leaving the post of prime minister. The same article also claims that Kasyanov purchased the state-owned dacha of former Communist Party of the Soviet Union ideologue Mikhail Suslov which was worth several million euros.[15]
On 11 July 2005, the Russian Office of Public Prosecutor started to investigate the privatization of two houses formerly owned by the government. According to allegations first made by the journalist and State Duma member Aleksandr Hinshtein,[18] two luxury government houses had been put up for sale in 2003 by a Kasyanov decree. According to the court verdict of 16 March 2007, he was to return a house and pay 108,135,000 rubles in damages to the government for using the property illegally (approx. USD 4,150,000 or €3,130,000). In 2007, Kasyanov was still planning to appeal.

Putin's chief opposition is the Communist Party of Russia, followed by "Just Russia" a Social Democratic Party, this man is a member of NEITHER Party. The Communist Party still gets 17-20% of the vote, even in elections with massive election fraud. i.e. the votes for the Communist and other opposition is viewed as accurate, the same can NOT be said of Putin and his winning party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_the_Russian_Federation

In 2012. Putin won 63% of the Vote, the Communists 17%, Mikhail Dmitrievitch Prokhorov, running as an independent won 8% of the vote, he later form a new party, the "Party of Civic Platform", the right wing "Liberal Democratic Party of Russia" won 6% of the vote, and a Social Democratic party. "A Just Russia" won 4%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_presidential_election,_2012

In the 2011 Duma Election, Putin's Party "United Russia" won just 49% of the vote (but 52% of the seats), the Communists won 19% of the votes, A "Just Russia" won 13% and the right wing "Liberal Democratic Party of Russia" won 11.67% of the vote.

If you combine the Communists and Just Russia, both left wing parties, the total vote is 32%, given the reports of problems with the vote a respectable number. This vote is considered fairly accurate, the Presidential Election is not. Thus I use the 2011 elections NOT the 2012 Presidential elections. Furthermore Putin has high favorability rantings within Russia, his party is built around him not a central platform. Thus he may have legitimately won 63% of the vote, while his party could only win 49% when he was NOT on the ticket.

Just Russia has been admitted into the Socialist International as the Russian Social Democratic Party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist_International

Sorry, to say this, but the the opposition to Putin is the Leader of the Communist Party and "Just Russia" not this man.

As to Mikhail Dmitrievitch Prokhorov he appears to be a oligarch who is trying to build a party around himself so he can replace Putin. Ideology is NOT important to him, but power is. That is the same basis Putin's "United Russia" is built on. The problem with such parties is that if rise and fall with the leader. Best example of this was the Nazi Party, When Hitler was free, he built the party around him, when he ended up in jail after the 1923 failed Putsch, the party fell apart, till he was released and the party rallied around him. Without Hitler the Nazi party was and is meaningless. The same with United Russia and Putin and Prokhorov and the "Party of Civic Platform", the party stands for nothing EXCEPT its leader and that means no leader no party and a collapse of a Government if they are in power.

Please note, I only bring up Hitler for his role in the Nazi Party in the 1920s. Neither Putin nor Prokhorov are new Hitlers, their doctrines are internal to Russia, neither are expansionary like Hitler NOR anti any minority like Hitler. I only bring up Hitler to show how a party can be built around a demigod and that is true of the Nazis and Hitler, United Russia and Putin and the "Party of Civic Platform" and Prokhorov. Without a real crisis nothing will change and Putin is in a secure position within Russia and always has the power to increases taxes on the Rich to get him out of any problems tied in with the drop in the price of oil.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

18. Why? Because he may be made an example of - don't diss Putin.

And no need to bombard me with "facts". like assuming Russian elections are above board and the results are actually indicative of anything. Good Day, SIR!

[Purveyor]

9. Putin will be in the Kremlin until he dies, either by old age or other. Bank on it. eom

[uhnope]

10. and what's your opinion of that? eom

[William769]

12. Dictators usually are. nt

[Purveyor]

17. Indeed. eom

[CatholicEdHead]

13. So, when do we book the flight to Siberia for Kasyanov?

Pooty Poot will put him on a red eye to send him there in the dead of winter.

[Adrahil]

15. Expect some trumped up charges of "corruption" in a few months.

And Putin's lapdogs will lap that crap up.

[GOLGO 13]

19. Dictators cling to power like shit on a pair of Nike

The only way to completely remove them is with a cleansing fire.