Editor’s Note: The following report is excerpted from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin, the premium online newsletter published by the founder of WND. Subscriptions are $99 a year or, for monthly trials, just $9.95 per month for credit card users, and provide instant access for the complete reports.
WASHINGTON – The perception among voters in Russia these days is that the Russian leadership, and particularly Vladimir Putin, has minimized the increasingly strong public reaction to what is believed to be rigged parliamentary elections, according to a report in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
Area analysts have concluded that Putin’s past governing style isn’t up to the task of managing growing popular discontent. And recent examples of people rising up against their autocratic rulers in an “Arab Spring” in the Middle East and North Africa has not gone unnoticed by the Russian population, who could initiative their own version of a “Russian Spring” if there aren’t changes.
Given Putin’s autocratic style, however, these sources believe it will lead to inevitable political turmoil in the near future. Since the last time Putin was president, times have changed and the Russian people have become more insistent on reform.
Putin’s style has been central control over the political process while dismissing the dissent and protests directed at him over how that process works to satisfy only those in power. If after election protests against him resume, analysts say to expect Putin to resort to previously tried and true tactics.
These tactics will include using real or imagined foreign enemies to deflect any criticism while possibly renewing strong military action against Islamist militants in the North Caucasus, especially in Chechnya.
“Beginning with growing public distrust of government … average citizens realize it is the executive branch that controls Russia, with the legislative and judiciary branches mere appendages carrying out the Kremlin’s wishes,” according to an analysis from the Langley Intelligence Network, which is comprised of former U.S. intelligence officials.
“…This is a new generation empowered by its connection to the outside world and knows how popular uprisings toppled dictators in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and probably in Syria, too,” it said. “Putin may therefore be on a collision course with the Russian people” as he attempts to continue practicing insider politics.
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