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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Putin wins another six years at Russia's helm in landslide victory

    MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin won a landslide re-election victory on Sunday, extending his rule over the world’s largest country for another six years at a time when his ties with the West are on a hostile trajectory.


    Putin’s victory will take his political dominance of Russia to nearly a quarter of a century, until 2024, by which time he will be 71. Only Soviet dictator Josef Stalin ruled for longer. Putin has promised to use his new term to beef up Russia’s defenses against the West and to raise living standards.


    In a widely expected outcome, the Central Election Commission, with just over 70 percent of the votes counted, announced that Putin, who has dominated the political landscape for the last 18 years, had won 75.9 percent of the vote.


    In a victory speech near Red Square, Putin told a cheering crowd he interpreted the win as a vote of confidence in what he had achieved in tough conditions.



    “It’s very important to maintain this unity. We will think about the future of our great Motherland,” said Putin, before leading the crowd in repeated chants of “Russia!” He told a meeting of supporters afterwards that difficult times were ahead, but that Russia had a chance to make “a breakthrough.”


    Backed by state TV, the ruling party, and credited with an approval rating around 80 percent, his victory was never in doubt. His nearest challenger, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, got around 13 percent, according to partial results, while nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky got around 6 percent.


    None of the seven candidates who ran against Putin posed a threat, and opposition leader Alexei Navalny was barred from running. Critics alleged that officials had compelled people to come to the polls to ensure that voter boredom at the one-sided contest did not lead to a low turnout.


    Turnout figures will be closely scrutinized. Early signs suggested turnout would exceed 60 percent.


    Russia’s Central Election Commission recognized that there were some irregularities, but was likely to dismiss wider criticism and declare the overall result legitimate.


    The result was a vindication of his tough stance towards the West, Putin loyalists said.



    “I think that in the United States and Britain they’ve understood they cannot influence our elections,” Igor Morozov, a member of the upper house of parliament, said on state television.


    Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the upper house, hailed the victory as a moral one over the West.


    “Our elections have proved once again ... that it’s not possible to manipulate our people,” she said. “People came together. No other country in the world has such open and transparent elections.”


    Opposition leader Navalny is expected to call for anti-Putin protests demanding a re-run of an election he says was neither free nor fair. A senior opposition politician has warned they could descend into street clashes if police crack down too hard on demonstrators.


    The longer-term question is whether Putin will soften his anti-Western rhetoric now the election is won.



    HOSTILE RELATIONS

    Putin’s bellicose language reached a crescendo before the election in a state-of-the-nation speech when he unveiled new nuclear weapons, saying they could hit almost any point in the world and evade a U.S.-built missile shield.


    At odds with the West over Syria, Ukraine, allegations of Russian election meddling and cyber attacks and the poisoning in Britain of a former Russian spy and his daughter, relations between Moscow and the West are at a post Cold War low.


    Putin, 65, has been in power, either as president or prime minister, since 2000.


    Allies laud the former KGB agent as a father-of-the-nation figure who has restored national pride and expanded Moscow’s global clout with interventions in Syria and Ukraine.


    Critics accuse him of overseeing a corrupt, authoritarian system and of illegally annexing Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014, a move that isolated Russia internationally.


    Western sanctions on Russia imposed over Crimea and Moscow’s backing of a pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine remain in place and have damaged the Russian economy, which only rebounded last year after a prolonged downturn.


    Britain and Russia are also locked in a diplomatic dispute over the spy poisoning incident, and Washington is eyeing new sanctions on Moscow over allegations it interfered in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, something Russia flatly denies.


    Putin said on Sunday it was nonsense to think that Moscow would have poisoned former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain and said Moscow was ready to cooperate with London.


    Officials and analysts say there is little agreement among Putin’s top policymakers on an economic strategy for his new term.


    How long Putin wants to stay in power is uncertain.


    The constitution limits the president to two successive terms, obliging him to step down at the end of his new mandate — as he did in 2008 after serving two four-year terms. The presidential term was extended from four to six years, starting in 2012.


    Asked after his re-election if he would run for yet another term in office, Putin laughed off the idea.


    “Let’s count. What, do you think I will sit (in power) until I’m 100 years old,” he said, calling the question “funny.”


    Although Putin has six years to consider a possible successor, uncertainty about his long-term future is a potential source of instability in a fractious ruling elite that only he can keep in check.


    Kremlin insiders say Putin has selected no heir apparent, and that any names being circulated are the product of speculation and not based on insider knowledge of Putin’s thinking.


    “The longer he stays in power, the harder it will be to exit,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, a think tank. “How can he abandon such a complicated system, which is essentially his personal project?”


    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-r...-idUSKCN1GT0TL

  2. #2

  3. #3
    Member

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    A real leader

  4. #4
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    Excellent news despite the US best attempts to interfere in their election. Go Vlad.

  5. #5
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    I'm shocked!

  6. #6
    . Neverna's Avatar
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    Congratulations Vladimir.



    Vladimir Putin - a man for all seasons




  7. #7
    R.I.P. Luigi's Avatar
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    A man's man.

    Onya Pooty.

  8. #8
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    The LORD has and continues to win, win, win.

    Well done President Putin.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Nice to be able to pick your own election result eh?

  10. #10
    Thailand Expat AntRobertson's Avatar
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    Well, not for anyone who poses a legitimate alternative.

    That'll likely get you arrested or dead.

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    Nice to be able to pick your own election result eh?
    It does ensure clarity and certainty.

    Second only to paying foreigners to fix it for you.

  12. #12
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    A great leader looking after his country and the people of Russia....good job

  13. #13
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    Interesting comments on required voting and selfies jobsworth



    GRYAZI, Russia (Reuters) - Opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin alleged that voters in Sunday’s presidential election were being compelled to show up at polling stations in a Kremlin drive to ensure Putin’s likely win is not tarnished by a low turnout.




    People visit a polling station during the presidential election in Moscow, Russia March 18, 2018. REUTERS/David Mdzinarishvili


    Ivan Zhdanov, an aide to opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is barred from running in the race, said Navalny supporters monitoring the vote reported people being bussed to polling stations by their employers.
    “We would call this the ‘shuttle bus election’,” Zhdanov told a briefing. “Some organisations, some buses, are bringing massive amounts of people.”


    Kremlin officials privately acknowledge some voters are reluctant to show up and vote, even if they support Putin, because they believe his victory is already a foregone conclusion. The officials say though the vote will be fair.
    Ella Pamfilova, head of the commission organising the vote nationwide, has said any fraud will be stamped out. She said those alleging the election was rigged were biased against Russia.


    Reuters reporters at polling stations across Russia spoke to multiple voters who said they had been instructed by bosses or academic supervisors to vote. Many took photographs of themselves voting, saying they were needed as proof.
    In one case, a senior election official inspecting a polling station said the photographs of voting should not be allowed, and ordered election staff there to stamp it out.
    Here are some of the cases compiled by Reuters reporters from speaking to people in polling stations:
    - Natalia Lobzhanidze is the director of School no. 3 in Ust-Djeguta, in the Karachayevo-Cherkessia region of southern Russia, which is hosting polling station number 215. “One girl came from (regional capital) Cherkessk, we took her photograph, because her bosses asked her to report back. She’s registered here, so she had to come here.”
    - A 25-year-old man at polling station number 02-13 in the settlement of Gryazi, in the Lipetsk region south of Moscow, said: “At work we were forced to come and vote, with photos and all the rest of it.
    - “At polling station number 217 in Ust-Djeguta, two 18-year-old students case their ballots. Asked by a Reuters reporter why they voted, one said: “To be honest, we were forced to.” When asked who forced them, the student said: “The teacher.”
    - At the same polling station in Ust-Djeguta, a group of women voted, then climbed aboard a bus that was waiting for them in the street. The bus had the name of a local children’s’ care home written on the side. Asked by a Reuters reporter if an organisation had sent them to vote, the women declined to comment.
    - At a polling station in Simferopol, in the Crimea region which Russia annexed from Ukraine, a couple with a child photographed themselves putting a voting slip into a ballot box. Explaining why they wanted the photograph, the woman said: “I work in a kindergarten, I need it for work.”

    - In polling station 1515 in Zelenodolsk, 800 km (500 miles) east of Moscow, five people photographed themselves voting. Asked by a Reuters reporter why, one of the group, a young woman, said: “What do you mean why? It’s a photographic report for our bosses.”
    - At polling station number 216 in Ust-Djeguta, Marina Kostina was supervising two teenage girls who were taking pictures of voters with ballot papers. Asked why one woman was photographed, Kostina said: “Her work asked her to report in.”
    - Also at polling station 216 in Ust-Djeguta, a woman around 40 said she was asked to provide proof of herself voting by her boss in the town’s kindergarten number 6.
    Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya, Polina Ivanova, Maria Tsvetkova, Olesya Astakhova and Polina Nikolskaya; Editing by Angus MacSwan


    Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

    https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-russia-election-observers-irregularit/in-russian-election-some-people-say-they-were-ordered-to-vote-idUKKBN1GU0I7




    Quote Originally Posted by Latindancer View Post
    I just want the chance to use a bigger porridge bowl.

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mozzbie47 View Post
    A great leader looking after his country and the people of Russia....good job
    If by "looking after" you mean "shamelessly robbing to the point of poverty", then yes..... good job.

  15. #15
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    Interesting unrelated to weather that most Scandanavians, Icelanders or Finns are content to retire if rich in their homelands, first thing a Russian once minted is leave for Cyprus, Israel or Uk, the real bottom feeders head to Rimini or Pattaya.

    The Russian people are wonderful, hospitable , however it's hard to think of a reasonable since Kerensky or Catherine the Great.

    Many armchair Marxists who have never seen Russia or communism at work dream of some kind of egalitarian alternative to capitalism, The Vietnamese and Chinese more realistic

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    Monitored in extreme fashion with relatively few errors found.

    "Every report of violations in the Russian presidential vote will be carefully considered, and firm decisions will be made, the election commission head stressed. There were no serious complaints during the presidential elections, she added.


    474,500 observers and 10,500 reporters from the media were presented at voting sites on election day, the chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission said.
    The commission's chair noted that a total of 1,513 foreign observers from 115 countries had worked at the Russian presidential vote.

    "In our opinion, indeed, the elections were as open as possible and everyone who was interested in monitoring their progress could do it, they had many opportunities to observe in different forms," Pamfilova said on Monday."

    https://sputniknews.com/russia-elect...election-2018/
    A tray full of GOLD is not worth a moment in time.

  17. #17
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by OhOh View Post
    Monitored in extreme fashion with relatively few errors found.

    "Every report of violations in the Russian presidential vote will be carefully considered, and firm decisions will be made, the election commission head stressed. There were no serious complaints during the presidential elections, she added.


    474,500 observers and 10,500 reporters from the media were presented at voting sites on election day, the chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission said.
    The commission's chair noted that a total of 1,513 foreign observers from 115 countries had worked at the Russian presidential vote.

    "In our opinion, indeed, the elections were as open as possible and everyone who was interested in monitoring their progress could do it, they had many opportunities to observe in different forms," Pamfilova said on Monday."

    https://sputniknews.com/russia-elect...election-2018/

    Oh you little joker you.


  18. #18
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
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    Putin, the consumate politician. Make Russia Great Again message has worked well for him especially since the majority of Russians believe the collapse of the Soviet Union was the worst thing ever happened to Russia. Give the guy credit for tapping into a disgruntled electorate.

  19. #19
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    Have some respect! That tower of a man got 110% of the vote.

  20. #20
    Thailand Expat OhOh's Avatar
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    "Here are the preliminary results explained in simple, plain, English:


    1) Putin easily wins by a landslide and is *more* popular than ever

    2) The Russian Communists and Zhirinovsky have reached terminal irrelevancy

    3) Only 2.6% of Russians are pro-USA and generally pro-West (Sobchak+Yavlinsky)

    4) The entire AngloZionist anti-Putin campaign has miserably failed

    5) The Empire has two choices left: go to war or fold

    6) If the Empire choses to to go war it will face a completely united Russia"




    And here are the detailed scores as of 22:51 UTC 18/3/18:


    Putin wins another six years at Russia's helm in landslide victory-selection_304-jpg

    http://thesaker.is/the-outcome-of-th...plain-english/
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Putin wins another six years at Russia's helm in landslide victory-selection_304-jpg  
    Last edited by OhOh; 19-03-2018 at 09:54 PM.

  21. #21
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    Funnily enough I might be Moscow bound, just finished up an interview with a school and have my second one tomorrow. Sounds like an interesting gig

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mandaloopy View Post
    Funnily enough I might be Moscow bound, just finished up an interview with a school and have my second one tomorrow. Sounds like an interesting gig

    Ask HoHo if he'll lend you his "I love Putin" wife beater, and don't accept cups of tea from strangers.

  23. #23
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
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  25. #25
    . Neverna's Avatar
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    ^ Apparently 80% of voting stations have CCTV cameras in order to be able to catch people who cheat. I'm sure that woman will be arrested soon if not already.

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