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I think Putin is quite popular in Russia and would have won in a free and fair election.

by Synaesthesia 7y ago

ebg13 7y ago
You can't have free and fair elections when the opposition periodically gets assassinated.
- Synaesthesia 7y ago
  I didn’t say it was free and fair.
  - seppin 7y ago
    How do you know he's popular either? State run opinion polls? Asking people on the street about if they like their ruthless dictator or not? Sure.
    - Synaesthesia 7y ago
      He is genuinely popular I believe, not just from state run polls but also independent ones. You must understand the fact that he pulled Russia out of one of its worst crises in history and made it a force to be reckoned with again. Yeah there’s plenty to criticise but that fact alone will make him quite popular. He’s certainly authoritarian, I wouldn’t characterize him as a “ruthless dictator”
      - ebg13 7y ago
        > I wouldn’t characterize him as a “ruthless dictator” You mean except for the part where his opposition periodically gets assassinated?
        Synaesthesia 7y ago
        It’s clearly a political designation. It’s authoritarian for sure. I’m not gonna defend his actions. There are plenty of countries which so far worse though and do not get designated as “ruthless dictators” by the media. When Yeltsin was in power he was a ruthless dictator, but because he toes the line there were no issues.
chupasaurus 7y ago
Current voting system in Russia is so adjustable the data from it is used as examples of statistics anomalies. A moth ago a scientific paper was published with a formally proven mathematical model which described the last year's election of a Primorskiy kray governor. Results of that vote were nullified in 2 weeks just to make a new temporary governor so he would win an opposing candidate in the next one by using an administrative resource.
codedokode 7y ago
Putin might win; Putin's party ("United Russia") is not so popular, has a lot of negative opinions, has dubious people (e.g. a government official having lot of expensive real estate which cannot be bought with their declared income), has lot of people who are incompetent and who are kept for their loyality. If they could win easily, why would they falsify election results or ban opposition candidates? They don't want to play fair. This is actually a problem for Putin, that he has certain popularity and trust, but it isn't transferred to people from his party, to governors etc.

I think Putin is quite popular in Russia and would have won in a free and fair election.

ebg13 7y ago

You can't have free and fair elections when the opposition periodically gets assassinated.

Synaesthesia 7y ago
I didn’t say it was free and fair.
- seppin 7y ago
  How do you know he's popular either? State run opinion polls? Asking people on the street about if they like their ruthless dictator or not? Sure.
  - Synaesthesia 7y ago
    He is genuinely popular I believe, not just from state run polls but also independent ones. You must understand the fact that he pulled Russia out of one of its worst crises in history and made it a force to be reckoned with again. Yeah there’s plenty to criticise but that fact alone will make him quite popular. He’s certainly authoritarian, I wouldn’t characterize him as a “ruthless dictator”
    - ebg13 7y ago
      > I wouldn’t characterize him as a “ruthless dictator” You mean except for the part where his opposition periodically gets assassinated?
      - Synaesthesia 7y ago
        It’s clearly a political designation. It’s authoritarian for sure. I’m not gonna defend his actions. There are plenty of countries which so far worse though and do not get designated as “ruthless dictators” by the media. When Yeltsin was in power he was a ruthless dictator, but because he toes the line there were no issues.

chupasaurus 7y ago

Current voting system in Russia is so adjustable the data from it is used as examples of statistics anomalies. A moth ago a scientific paper was published with a formally proven mathematical model which described the last year's election of a Primorskiy kray governor. Results of that vote were nullified in 2 weeks just to make a new temporary governor so he would win an opposing candidate in the next one by using an administrative resource.

codedokode 7y ago

Putin might win; Putin's party ("United Russia") is not so popular, has a lot of negative opinions, has dubious people (e.g. a government official having lot of expensive real estate which cannot be bought with their declared income), has lot of people who are incompetent and who are kept for their loyality. If they could win easily, why would they falsify election results or ban opposition candidates? They don't want to play fair. This is actually a problem for Putin, that he has certain popularity and trust, but it isn't transferred to people from his party, to governors etc.