by Robert Maginni
Regensburg, Germany. Vladimir Putin’s political party, United Russia, won a crushing victory in Sunday’s election harvesting 315 of the 450 seats in the state Duma, the Federal Assembly’s lower house. This outcome was widely predicted and now it’s a waiting game to see what it means for Russian democracy, Putin’s future and whether this is the start of a new Cold War.
After Putin accepted the mantle of leadership for United Russia, the opposition melted away or was pushed aside by the Kremlin’s acid rhetoric and heavy-handed campaign management.
United Russia cast the election as a referendum on Putin’s nearly eight years in office. Their goal was to deliver a big victory, thereby giving Putin the “moral right” to maintain influence after he steps down as president in May. “The vote affirmed the main idea: that Vladimir Putin is the national leader, that the people support his course, and this course will continue,” said Boris Gryzlov, the parliament’s speaker.
Russians feel optimistic about their future. “Approximately half the population … believe that tomorrow will be better than today,” says Maria Marskevich of the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Sociology. That optimism is based on Putin’s success ...   more »