Vladimir Putin has been an immovable force in the political arena for almost 30 decades and he is set to serve six years more as president of the Russian Federation following his landslide victory in the recently held elections. The younger generation of Russia seem to have interesting and rather surprising views on the recently held presidential election and Putin being re-elected as president for the third time. Young Voice spoke to a few working youths residing in Moscow to find out their views and opinions.
Pasha, 23, Researcher, Psychology Student.
In Russia we call these presidential elections, Putin’s elections. After not allowing Alexey Navalny (the most popular Russian oppositionist) to participate in this presidential elections, everything became obvious - another six years under Putin’s rule. Honestly, it is becoming a little bit creepy; boys and girls who are eighteen years old or less lived all their lives with Putin as president! Although we all know that these elections were not clear at all, we have to accept that the majority of Russians love Putin. They support the development of traditional values and religiosity and see Putin as the “Tsar” that can protect them from western enemies. This tendency seems to be a bit depressing, but the fact that the younger generation is starting to show interest in politics gives hope that positive changes will happen soon.
Alexandra, 20, Media and Communications Student.
Stagnation - this is the word I can use to describe the last Russian elections. For me, as one of the younger generation’s representatives, it means that my peers are ready for change because they see how people in developed countries live and can observe the differences. Young people have different values and another way of seeing the world from officials in the government. That is why the country’s current administration does not seem perfect to us: it doesn’t do any serious work for staying modern for developing Russia, it tries to save old thoughts and old values.
Some Russians ask, “If not Putin, then who?” But the point is that young men and women just cannot see worthy candidates for presidential office because the government simply does not give an opportunity to people to express themselves, their programs and plans. That is why a lot of people prefer not to vote at all, they do not want to participate in something that does not make any sense, they feel that their voice cannot be heard and do not what to be a part of this dishonest activity. The fact that the government thinks about saving its power instead of taking care of the prosperity of people seems very improper and undignified to me.
Kirill, 24, Musician
Regarding the past presidential election - In my opinion there is an absence of a very much needed political discourse between the parties and candidates that would motivate the different sides of the discussion to stick to certain policies and promises that the people are interested in (example - pensions, access to health services, education, etc.). At the moment we, as a country, are left to observe the almost monarchic party and its actions.
In view of the election itself, it was a sad affair, because most of the people were absolutely unmotivated to go and vote. In the order to get the people to get out of their houses. There were free pancakes, balloons, music and entertainment of various kinds in order to get people interested in a politically pointless endeavour. To me, this seems rather comical.
I hope to see new and diverse political debates and campaigns in the future.
Olga, 25, Analyst
None of my peers voted for Putin. Maybe it is due to the fact that I live in the capital and all my friends support liberal values. Of course, everyone anticipated the obvious results of the elections since a year ago. Even if one candidate gets 25% of voteswhile another candidate gets 24.5%, the current rules of the election allow the candidate to win if he or she has the majority of the votes. However, I was so shocked when I knew that Putin got 76%! First of all, I thought it was another fraud which is popular at Russian elections. But I have several acquaintances who worked as independent observers during the elections whose duty was to prevent attempts of fraud. Even on their (independent observers) voting spots Putin got the majority of the votes which were over 70%. So it must mean that he is definitely very popular among the Russian population.
My grandmother and my father’s family are avid supporters of Putin. They voted for him for the third time this year. They really are his fans, saying that without him the “powerful Russia” would not exist. The only explanation here is that the older generations are comparing the current situation with that of Soviet times and are excited that modern Russia is so liberal and prosperous. As for me, I compare Russia with western countries, and I can see that life here can be much better.
Alexey, 24, Marketing Research Outsourcer & Entrepreneur
So, why Putin? The younger generation’s general stance of the presidential election can be separated to three categories - the opponents (they ignore elections, and say that Putin is an “illegitimate president”), the supporters (who vote for Putin), and those who vote, supporting another candidate.
Many people in the country are uncomfortable with the current regime. There is a strong difference of income in our society; there is almost no middle class, and banking (interest rates) and taxation systems are outdated and inefficient - thus small and middle income businesses are in a deep recession. But I believe as a country, we still have the potential. We need to improve government control over fossil fuel usage, and take all the resource-production companies under the rule of the state.
This would help to lower the interest rates, make credits cheaper, as well as lower taxes. Unfortunately most of the “entrepreneurs” that own fossil fuel companies in Russia relate with Putin, while those who don’t are treated roughly (for example, Russian entrepreneur, politico, who spent 20 years in jail - Khadarkovskiy).
Though we have our human rights and freedom of will in Russia, there is unfortunately one thing that was forged by ages of so-called “Russian mentality” – that is power and law. In Russia, power was always stronger than the law. So why is Putin still being supported by the people? Today, Russia has become very powerful in the world arena – and even opposition admires Putin’s deeds in foreign policy.
DISCLAIMER: the statements above are the personal opinions of the contributors and does not represent the opinions of Young Voice.
