A Tough Crowd

Critical Russian Media Scrambles to Analyze the Consequences of another 12 Years of Putin By Dan PeleschukRussia Profile 09/26/2011President Dmitry Medvedev’s announcement on Saturday that he would step aside to allow Prime Minister Vladimir Putin another chance at the presidency ended nearly four years of speculation as to whether Putin would return to the post. Though analysts and casual observers alike had long predicted the move, the announcement still sent ripples through the Russian media. And while the local press tackled the story with commendable analysis, most of the coverage was geared toward predicting the bleak course on which Putin would continue to steer Russia. Bloggers, meanwhile, took to the Web to voice their own concerns.

The few media outlets that remain largely free of censorship and government interference took last weekend’s news almost as if it were a surprise. Though many expected Putin to return, it was a question of when everyone would know. It was only rumored that the announcement would be made at the United Russia party congress, and the many months of speculation had seemingly given way to a sense of resignation as to the final candidate. Yet when the news broke, the press was forced to grapple with the stark reality that the secret was out, and Putin was back in.

Since the announcement, commentators have begun to piece together the consequences of another 12 years of Putin. Many, however, are less than positive. Writing for Vedomosti, political and economic analyst Sergei Aleksashenko likened Russia today to a slowly rusting “Titanic” that missed the fatal iceberg, but continued sailing on for many years. “We walk along its corridors and see little leaks here and there, but we quickly patch them up to create an image of a boat that could still serve us for many years…But those who are supposed to fix and maintain the entire skeleton of the boat not only don’t do that, but they exploit its poor condition by chipping off piece after piece and making good money in the process.” Aleksashenko further commented that a potential catastrophe can only be avoided in the future if everyone realizes the gravity of the problem instead of simply supporting “the captain.”

A September 24 editorial posted in Gazeta.ru mirrored similar concerns for the future, yet it also shed light on how, after four years of Medvedev’s reform rhetoric, some may have found themselves deceived by the carefully orchestrated charade (Medvedev and Putin both admitted at the congress the decision had been made long ago). “That Medvedev didn’t refuse a continuing part in political life but refused authority altogether…speaks to the fact that he never had either authority or his own vision. There was just dependence. And this dependence, these illusions were the hope of those who believed in liberal reforms, modernization, humanization, the battle against corruption and elite privileges, the freedom of speech and the political opening of the country,” the paper said.

The vibrant Russian blogosphere, meanwhile, registered its own opinions of this weekend’s news, as it became a catalyst for the virtual explosion of commentary on LiveJournal and other popular Russian sites. Many initial reactions in the several hours after Medvedev’s announcement were ones of utter dismay: the phrase “Let’s get out of here!” appeared widely and seemed to be a common theme. And while some applauded the announcement, there seemed to be little middle ground between support and disgust, reflecting Gazeta.ru’s comment that “the state today has become a place where the youth either dreams of emigrating or of working for Gazprom.”

Other viral postings surfaced, too, such as a scanned copy of an instruction sheet handed to attendants of the United Russia congress (but whose origin and authenticity could not be verified), “leaked” in an attempt to further discredit the closely orchestrated affair. On the sheet, written under the dress code and list of prohibited items, is an underlined list of phrases participants were required to chant – among them, “Nation! Medvedev! Putin!”

But while some let their emotions run rampant, others were careful to compose their thoughts and offer a more calculated assessment of what more Putin might mean for the future. Dmitry Gudkov, the leader of the Young Socialists of Russia, wrote on his Echo of Moscow blog that Putin’s return might just give steam to the “Russia Without Putin” movement, currently a fringe opposition movement: “Now this can become a real idea for the opposition, and the authorities themselves laid the foundation for it at the United Russia congress…Fanatics of Putin are happy, but for the majority of people it became clear that the four-year-long joke known as the ‘Medvedev presidency’ is over, the masks have been torn off, and everything is called as it really is: there is no democracy in Russia, just people who usurp power and will never let it go.”

While social media in the West has long existed as a channel for casual communication – where friends keep track of one another through Facebook, share music through MySpace, and “tweet” brief updates through Twitter – social media in Russia is in many ways a far more meaningful institution. In a country where independent or critical news is scant, many young and educated urbanites resort to the blogosphere in order to share their opinions and, often, to help shape the way their peers think about hot button issues.

Now, however, that rule may extend beyond simply including disenchanted youngsters looking for greater freedom of expression. As rumblings of dissent begin to form within the top leadership – the latest to speak out was Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin – social media may play a larger role in shaping the political future than some might think. Take, for example, a tweet senior Kremlin advisor Arkady Dvorkovich posted as a response to a follower shortly after the United Russia congress (in reference to the venue in which the congress took place): “It’s better to play hockey in the Luzhniki stadium…”

http://russiaprofile.org/politics/46057.html