It is as it was expected. Vladimir Vladimirovich has won, as he wanted, and the margin of victory (14%) taking into account the number of voters (over 60%) shows that the forgery could not have a significant impact on the final result. The machine has worked, and, unlike in case of Belarus, the world will have nothing to reproach.
Putin has a full mandate to ensure that he can govern in a way he wants. Except that nobody knows how this term will look like. The last 12 years has shown that you cannot govern and “win” without reforming the country. So why take risks and expose oneself to criticism of the opposition, which of course will disappear after the election? And the oil prices are so high, maybe it won’t be so bad…
Far behind Putin, in his shadow, the licensed counter candidates shared the consolation prizes. Among them the number 1 is Gennady Zyuganov, a Communist, a true opponent of Putin, who gathered a quarter of his support. It is nice, but irrelevant, because when the chief stamps, the Communists stand at attention. Mikhail Prokhorov got surprisingly a lot (8%) and this is a real measure of the contesting Russian audience. The leader of Fair Russia, Sergei Mironov, who was nominated by the Kremlin as the left-wing opposition leader, has compromised himself getting less than 4%.
So everything worked, but that tear… For what? Unless it was caused by a strong wind. Moscow does not believe in tears.
PS: The movie “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears” was created in 1979 and won an Oscar. Although the director Vladimir Menshov did not plan it, the title has become a classical saying for the Russian tough guys.
PPS: The current President Dmitry Medvedev ends like a hypocrite. He called on the court to check whether Khodorovsky is in prison legally and whether the other opposition candidates were justly denied registration…