News from Russia, via The Guardian:
The Russian
president is required by the constitution to step down in 2024, and there have
been months of conjecture about how he could stay in power beyond then, or at
least ensure a safe transition for himself. In the end, the puzzle was resolved
in an afternoon, in a series of choreographed political steps that took just
over three hours and could result in Putin staying on as president until 2036. The
venture began in parliament, where a member of Russia’s ruling party proposed
amending the constitution in a way that would “reset” Putin’s presidential term
count back to zero.
Vladimir Putin—who
would be 84 years old if that in fact happens—must “personally approve” of the
measure, to be “approved” by a public referendum and by the Russian version of
the Supreme Court. Naturally, given past history this “approval” is a given—since
the Russian people crave “stability,” even if that only means that they don’t
have to suffer the political “chaos” that they are told occurs in the West, and
in the U.S. in particular. We all know, despite Putin’s claims of ignorance,
that Russia did intervene on behalf of Donald Trump in 2016; the Mueller report
tells us that at least two government-connected firms and at least two-dozen
Russian nationals were involved in a social media effort to tilt the election
in favor of Trump, who had publicly expressed a desire to be “friends” with
Russia and in particular with Putin, who Trump “admired” for his ability to
accumulate unfettered power without a lot of annoying regulations and public disdain
to deal with.
Trump was more
than eager to believe Putin’s lies about Russian interference, even though
everyone who isn’t as dense as he and Devin Nunes knows that nothing goes on in
Russia that Putin doesn’t know anything about or has his personal stamp of approval.
And we know, as the Kremlin’s propaganda organ RT News tells us, that democracy
doesn’t “work,” and that is a message Putin likes to convince a Russian public
fishing for an explanation for a stagnant economy—which much like that of
Venezuela has failed to use oil revenue to diversify the economy, thus explaining
Russia’s recent failed efforts to decrease OPEC oil supplies and thus increase
oil prices. A 2019 IMF report notes that Russia’s economy suffers from massive corruption,
particularly in state-owned enterprises which represent a third of the economy
and more of its energy sector.
Naturally, as dictator-president,
Putin is allowed to charge government coffers for all of his expenses—personal or
otherwise. He admits that his official presidential “salary’ simply goes into
his bank account to sit untouched. Putin apparently loves to wear watches that
run over $100,000 at government expense, which suggests his other tastes are
equally as expensive—such as, say, a one-billion dollar “palace” and a $500
million yacht, although more likely he only “owns” them for his personal use as
long as he is power. Obviously he can’t afford any of this on his presidential “salary”
which has been variously described as being between $100 to $190,000. Like most de facto dictators, Putin’s “salary”
is just a public relations gimmick; government coffers are his to spend as he wishes,
while most in Russia live, barely. While there are those like Daven Hiskey on
the website Today I Found Out who have investigated the claims that Putin may
be worth as much as $200 billion, and have found no official documentary evidence
to support this and other claims to enormous personal holdings, Putin probably
does have a few billions squirreled-away in overseas accounts like all of his
oligarch friends, from whom it is suspected that he extracts expensive “favors”
from in exchange for his official government patronage.
But more to the point is that as
long as Putin is in power he ‘unofficially” controls the nation’s wealth to use
and abuse at his whim. There are those in Russia who suggest that once Putin is
out of power, he will—if not be the target of immediate corruption charges—find
life less than pleasant once his many enemies have their opportunity to get a
crack at him. Putin’s continuing efforts to remain in power instead of riding
off into comfortable retirement are thus “understandable”—and this is obviously
true of other dictators around the globe as well.
Oh and by the way, it does sound
a lot like another person who calls himself “president” we know closer to home,
doesn’t it?
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