Putin’s report card
Topic: picture channel
According to Russian media reports, the United Russia Party, the Just Russia Party, the Russian Agricultural Party and the Citizen Power Party jointly nominated First Deputy Prime Minister Medvedev as the next presidential candidate. On December 10th, 2007, when meeting with the leaders of the four parties, Putin expressed "full agreement" with this proposal. This is a photo of Putin (former) and Medvedev visiting a construction site in central Russia on September 13, 2007. Xinhua News Agency/Reuters
When Putin ascended the presidency in 2000, few people were familiar with this little former KGB officer, let alone had great hopes for him to save Russia. However, eight years after the expiration of his two terms, when faced with Russia, which is full of energy and intends to revive its glory, people can’t help but express their feelings. During his eight years in power, Putin led Russia to rise again and "return to the ranks of world powers" by "extraordinary means". This is the evaluation of Putin by Time magazine in explaining that he was named as the person of the year in 2007.
Eight years of fierce combination boxing
Putin’s report cards should be listed more, but they can all be summarized as a simple point: he restored Russians’ trust in the country, helped the people find confidence and hope for the future, and inspired their spirit of being frustrated for many days.
As we all know, Putin faced a "mess" when he came to power. Stability and order! This was not only the aspiration of ordinary people at that time, but also the aspiration of various interest groups that suffered serious losses in property division and political chaos. Therefore, establishing order and maintaining stability will inevitably become the banner that Putin held high at the beginning of taking office. This has always been the "top priority" of his administration, a prerequisite for his remarkable achievements in other fields, and a "magic weapon" for him to win high support rate and retain his voice when he leaves office. Roy Maidevijeff, a famous Russian scholar, said: "Putin is a useful person who appears in the needed position when needed."
Political power: from "state machine failure"To "controllable democracy"
Former President Yeltsin once admitted: "In Russia, there are huge state institutions, powerful troops and police, but there is such anarchy … which means that the whole state machine is out of order."
By the time Putin left office in 2008, Russia had formed a centralized presidential system, or "controllable democracy" system, in which the parliament, the government, the judiciary, major political parties and the media were in the hands, the regime basically controlled all situations, and the elite team was relatively United.
In the eight years after 1992, Russian politics has been in a chaotic situation for a long time, and the government’s ability to act has been greatly weakened. Due to the imperfection of democratic politics itself and the social unrest caused by economic transition, the weakened government lacks sufficient ability to maintain social stability and legal order. In this case, Putin realized that a strong and rational regime is the main guarantee for social stability and economic development, and strengthening state authority is the best way to solve urgent problems. Ensuring political stability, smooth government orders and normal operation of political power has become its top priority, and it is also a prerequisite for revitalizing the economy.
Adjust the relationship between the central and federal entities. In 2000, Putin first decided to set up seven federal districts on the basis of 89 federal entities, and he personally appointed presidential representatives to manage them, so as to strengthen the central government’s control over the localities; In 2004, the method for the election of local leaders was revised, and the right to appoint and remove "vassals" was returned to the central government; Establish the power of the central government to adjudicate the illegal acts of local leaders, and form a legal intervention mechanism for the central government to restrain local governments; Since 2005, the federal entities have been merged. By January 2008, the original 89 federal entities had been compressed to 84. After the above-mentioned "cutting vassals" were swung, the past situation of disguised "separatist regime", the central government pleasing the local government and "managing the brain with four limbs" was completely changed, and a new central vertical management system was formed.
Purge oligarchs. Oligopoly intervention was a major "freak" in Russian politics in the 1990s. These financial and industrial groups either directly stepped forward or manipulated public opinion and influenced national policies through agents, and they were powerful. After Putin came to power, he first cleaned up the media kingdom controlled by oligarchs and seized public opinion positions. Then, the oligarchs who "don’t listen" were investigated, forcing Gusinski, berezovsky and other oligarchs who once dominated politics to go into exile. In 2003, in the name of economic crimes, Khodorkovsky, who was still trying to be active in the political arena, was put into prison. Under the pounding of Putin’s sharp combination boxing, the arrogance of oligarchs who tried to challenge the regime was completely suppressed. The state not only ended oligarchy, but also further controlled more assets through legal and economic channels.
Improve the political system of political parties. In view of the chaotic activities of political parties during Yeltsin’s period, the opposition between political power and major political parties, and the frequent contradictions between the government and parliament, Putin began to implement his plan based on the Political Party Law passed in 2001 and the parliament as a platform, in which the key to realize this blueprint is to focus on building a "political party". From 2001 to 2002, with the full promotion of the Kremlin, the three pro-government parties joined forces to form the "United Russia" party, becoming the largest party in the Duma. With the support and encouragement of the political power, government officials, big entrepreneurs and political activists at all levels are more actively involved in the "United Russia" party, making it a veritable "political party". The fifth Duma, which came into being in 2007, is not only another complete victory of the "regime party", but also reflects the embryonic form of party politics in Putin’s mind-the situation that the regime relies on political parties and political parties to cooperate with the regime with the two pro-regime parties of "United Russia" and "just Russia" as the core.