Saturday, January 13, 2018

"70 at 70" objective for Putin reelection in March 2018

12-6-17   Last year, the Kremlin’s top political technologists established a “70 at 70” objective for Putin’s reelection in March 2018 — 70 percent of the vote with 70 percent turnout.   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/12/06/yes-the-kremlin-is-worried-about-russias-own-presidential-elections/?utm_term=.5ee3d4b11a3b
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                    -V. Surkov with some guy
5-9-2013   But Surkov may have fallen foul of political in-fighting spurred by the increasingly powerful Investigative Committee, a law enforcement agency modelled on the FBI (ha ha) that reports directly to Mr. Putin.  It has zealously prosecuted a crackdown on the Russian opposition and has also launched a series of corruption probes, sometimes for what critics say are political motives. 
  Speaking on a trip to London last week, Mr. Surkov denounced the Investigative Committee for pursuing one such investigation into Skolkovo (info-tech hub)  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/vladimir-putin/10045188/Russian-deputy-prime-minister-Vladislav-Surkov-forced-to-resign-after-Vladimir-Putin-lambasts-cabinet.html
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  The resignation of the once-hugely influential V. Surkov, observers say, is a major scalp in the belt of the siloviki and confirms a shift to a more hard-nosed ruling style cementing under Putin.  “This is an alarming signal, and it means that the siloviki have got the upper hand,” human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov told Interfax.

  Some opposition figures, too, have greeted Surkov's departure with alarm.  Former Deputy Prime Minister and opposition politician Boris Nemtsov on May 8 portrayed it as the outcome of a battle between competing visions of Russia.  He said the authorities “forced Surkov to quit, placing their bets entirely on the silovik structures.  There was a conflict between two styles of maintaining power.  Some thought that power had to be maintained by force, while Surkov thought that carrying out political manipulations and trickery was more effective than putting people in jail.”

T  o be sure, the shift toward a more hard-line style of rule was already well under way.  It began in December 2011 when the political system that Surkov was credited with constructing appeared to wobble as allegations of parliamentary election fraud brought thousands onto the streets of Moscow, starting a phase of unprecedented anti-Kremlin protests.  Putin soon moved Surkov out of the Kremlin administration   https://www.rferl.org/a/surkov-resignation-russia-putin/24981642.html
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1-12-18     Outside the former Soviet Union, Kremlin's Interior Ministry employees are only allowed to travel to Vietnam, Cuba, and China, according to the ATOR report.  Other popular destinations for Russian tourists like Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Thailand reportedly didn't make the cut, though they had been approved in 2015-16, the Russian news agency RBC noted.     https://www.rferl.org/a/transmission-russian-cops-banned-vacation-locations/28971744.html


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