Chapter 1179 Opposition and Cooperation

Compared with the news about the election of State Duma deputies, the President of the Russian Federation’s speeches for the past eight years have been more calm. There was virtually no scandal in the race for the presidency. No dirty tricks were used, but that doesn't mean the fight wasn't fierce or tense enough.

In the election, the leaders of the second, third or fifth party can enter the State Duma and become its members. However, there is only one presidential throne, and the president has more interests and powers than the entire Duma and is more powerful.

In recent years, presidential defeat has naturally been a major topic in Russian political predictions, social research and various speculation activities. This is determined by the special role of the new Russian presidential power system. in Russia. His president has broader powers than the president of the United States or France.

In Russia, when the democratic tradition, civil society and mature party system have not yet been formed, the president can and should be the guarantee of stability, democracy and order. Therefore, giving the president the necessary power and leverage is not The erratic behavior of the Yeltsin era or the mistakes of the framers of the constitution, but necessity.

It is this situation that determines the issue of running for president as the most realistic topic in Russian society and political system.

There are many opponents of Puai, including Viktor Chernomyrdin, Alexander Lebed, Boris Nemtsov, Yuri Luzhkov, Yevgeny Primakov, etc., these people are all At that time, Russia's political star was more dazzling than Putin at any moment.

Vladimir Putin had just become the head of the Federal Security Service in July 1998, eight months before the Russian presidential election. Little is known that even Putin himself, at that time, had never had the luxury of running for any office. Even when Yeltsin appointed Putin as prime minister. It also did not attract special attention from society and the media.

But the situation soon became clear. When Putin had become a realistic competitor for the country's highest power position, many admirers appeared around him, and of course there were also many people who harbored ill will towards him.

Since October 1999, Putin's artifacts have ceased to win applause. Although Putin's policies have clear support from the majority of the population, many newspapers and magazines. There are also some popular TV stations that are anti-Putin.

Politicians and businessmen behind Russia's mass media are frightened by Vladimir Putin, the unexpected new prime minister, and his rapidly rising approval ratings.

As the election approaches, the noisy and ineffectual propaganda campaign has stepped up steam. In the weeks and months leading up to the election, there was a wide variety of reports about Putin. Many media outlets often published rumors, rumors, and vicious comments, or ignored important facts and statements. Some newspapers and magazines even went so far as to directly fabricate them. False news.

For example, "Putin is a communist. Regarding Yeltsin's evil political and economic policies,

Putin is doing nothing now and does not want to change them in the future. Putin does not want to clean up the oligarchs. Putin will not review the results of predatory privatization." There are many similar statements.

What the Russian media has been chasing after is Putin's attitude towards those so-called oligarchs. It was precisely because of the large amounts of money provided by the oligarchs and the active support of the mass media they controlled that Yeltsin won the presidential election.

Similarly, not only in the economic field, but also within the Russian political institutions, this has given the most ambitious oligarchs very powerful power. But it does the country no good, of all demands on power. The strongest and most persistent call is to eliminate corruption, bribery and crime. Eliminate the oligarchs who exercise arbitrary power.

Therefore, the topic of Putin and oligarchs is very popular.

On the one hand, Putin has to listen to many suggestions from people who have close cooperation with big capitalists. These people believe that it will be difficult for Putin to manage the country without the support of big capitalists; on the other hand. Putin had to listen to entirely different expectations: that the activities of the oligarchs should be clearly and explicitly condemned, and that judicial investigations into the most hated individual oligarchs should even be resumed.

It is not just the ideologists of the Russian Communist Party who demand that Putin resolutely and thoroughly distance himself from the oligarchs. Putin's entire future as a national leader will depend on his ability to solve the oligarchic problem.

In fact, all the talk about oligarchs having overwhelming power and having an extremely negative impact on the country is just smoke. Its purpose is to divert people's attention from real problems. The peak period during which oligarchs are truly successful is very short-lived. Their glory days are over.

What we see now is no longer a war of oligarchs. It is a normal political contest between different power alliances. on some occasion. The influence of Russian oligarchs has clearly been exaggerated, and on other occasions clearly downplayed.

Russia's big capitalists already exist, and among them there are many leaders of Russia's largest financial and industrial groups. They strive to protect Russia's national interests in the competition between large Western companies; however, you can also find big financial speculators who get something for nothing here. These people He relies on recording Russia's weak economic life and transfers his illegally obtained wealth to distant overseas countries.

Here one can also find managers of large state-owned enterprises and companies, state officials who can be fired or appointed. But there is also a group of people who, rather than using their wealth to develop their own financial and industrial companies, are trying desperately to expand their political influence, many of them use the most pedantic and outdated methods; there are also some business owners who They have relied on their own efforts to build new industrial production sectors and new factories, thereby ensuring job opportunities and better incomes for thousands of people; however, there are also some people who use the Russian mass media they control to create benefits for themselves instead of Profit for Russian society and the country.

Putin is really firm on this issue. He emphasized on various occasions that he would not allow a new round of distribution of property in Russia, while declaring in clear and unambiguous language that the country would be run by the president and the government, and not by the oligarchs, which he said resolutely and clearly on all occasions Refusal to use any sponsorship from any oligarchic group.

During the election campaign, Putin's campaign headquarters used very little funds, and there was no need to use money from big businessmen. When answering questions about oligarchs, Putin has emphasized more than once his principle of keeping oligarchs away from power.

But it is precisely this principle that frightens those very close to power.

Therefore, at this important moment in the election year, Putin's various opposition forces have begun to connect with each other, colluding with Western anti-Russian forces, and those oligarchs who have been chased by the Putin government and fled overseas, combining their respective forces in an attempt to Now we are starting to face difficulties against the Putin government from all aspects of politics and economy.

"The Duma election is still more than half a year away, and the presidential election is a year away. Are they a little too eager to try now?" In response to this question, Chen Lin asked curiously.

"Not at all anxious," Fan Wubing shook his head.

In fact, if you want to influence public opinion and create obstacles for the Putin government, it cannot be done in a short time. Many arrangements will take several months or more to complete. Therefore, many forces have now begun to struggle. Obstacles are created for Putin in all aspects, in the hope that when the general election is approaching, it will cause greater obstacles and troubles to Putin, affect his re-election, or even directly expel him from Russia's highest authority.

"The economic foundation determines the superstructure, and this can also be applied here." Fan Wubing explained to Luo Lin, "Once there are major deviations in Putin's economic policies, leading to major mistakes in the Russian economy, then he will have to be re-elected as president. It's very difficult.

Just like Bush Sr., although he won the battlefield in Iraq, he lost the election because Americans are very practical. Bush Sr. was invincible on the battlefield, but his economic performance was mediocre or below par. . Naturally they will be abandoned. "

"Oh" Luo Lin responded. "So the current trade friction between China and Russia is actually creating obstacles for Putin's election?"

"That's natural. A qualified Russian president is nothing else but a president who can quickly recover and improve the Russian economy. Now, under the leadership of the Putin government, Russia's political situation has stabilized. If it is economically If he achieves certain achievements, his re-election will be almost irreversible. Fan Wubing said, "Putin's opponents have seen this, so they are now concentrating their efforts to create chaos from all aspects. "

A discerning person can naturally see this. As one of Russia's most important partners, China's position in Russia's economic development is becoming more and more important, and as the only force that is not a Western country, it is naturally the most convenient weapon for Putin's opponents to destroy Sino-Russian economic and trade relations are obviously the most effective means to combat widespread concentration.

In this Sino-Russian economic and trade conflict. In fact, both Putin and the Chinese were victims, so when Fan Wubing came to Moscow in person to secretly meet with Putin, the two sides immediately reached an important cooperation agreement to ensure that their respective interests were not infringed.

"But what cooperation project did you reach this time?" Luo Lin asked Fan Wubing.

"These are not the important points. The important point is that we met and reached an understanding." Fan Wubing avoided this. question, turned to say.