The Inevitable Putin’s Re-election
Adel Bashqawi
March 24, 2024
https://cartoonmovement.com/cartoon/elections-russia
In parallel with the hell of the war launched by Russia against neighbouring Ukraine since February 24, 2022, it was not impossible to know in advance who would win the recent presidential elections held in Russia, from 15 to 17 March 2024. The election results came as no surprise. Thus, based on the above, the Russian President Vladimir Putin has quashed all his opponents. He outperformed all those who ran for the Russian elections whether in the past and the present.
Whether we like it or not, it is necessary to shed light and touch upon this unprecedented event, that is rarely seen in the present era. “The outcome means Putin, 71, is set to embark on a new six-year term that will see him overtake Josef Stalin and become Russia’s longest-serving leader for more than 200 years if he completes it.” [1]
The following shows the periods of government and the positions held by the current Russian president from 2000 until now:
• Two four-year terms as President 2000–2008
• One four year term as Prime Minister 2008–2012
• Two six-year terms as President from 1012-2024
• Finally, one more 6 year-term as President starting from 2024
If the state of affairs concerned only a specific people, the situation would be acceptable. It is necessary for every people to have absolute freedom to elect its ruler and thus approve the elections or overlook mistakes. Yet, this concerns peoples and nations who are not ethnic East Slavic Russians; but they are ruled by the Russian state, while they must exercise their right to self-determination, to decide their own destiny, which is an inalienable right.
“Putin won 87.8% of the vote, the highest ever result in Russia’s post-Soviet history, according to an exit poll by pollster the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM). The Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) put Putin on 87%. First official results indicated the polls were accurate. The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and other nations have said the vote was neither free nor fair due to the imprisonment of political opponents and censorship.” [2]
The recently held elections in the Russian Federation, during the current month of March, were no different from previous elections held since the year 2000. Potential candidates who could have been main competitors to the ruling power candidate, Vladimir Putin, were either marginalized or eliminated. It is noteworthy that the influential security services and agencies have been using their power and influence to influence the conduct of candidacy and elections. “Putin has eliminated all of his most significant rivals, cementing his grip on power … As expected, Russian President Vladimir Putin has won his fifth term in office, following a campaign in which all his significant rivals were barred from running, imprisoned, or dead.” [3]
Like any authoritarian regime, electoral laws are flexible, which were continuously changed to suit the authorities’ candidate, who turns out to aspire remaining at the top of the power pyramid for life. When it was not permissible to run for the presidency more than twice in a row, this law was circumvented by Vladimir Putin becoming prime minister for one presidential term. After that, he ran again for the presidency, in which victory and success were guaranteed. Then, the electoral law was changed. Accordingly, the duration of each presidential term was increased to six years, and candidacy was not restricted to only two presidential terms.
“Even before his fifth term starts, Putin will already be the longest-serving Russian leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. If he serves out the entirety of this six-year term, he will surpass Stalin and be in the running next with Catherine the Great and then perhaps eventually Peter the Great — two rulers whose imperial power Putin has sought to mimic in his conquest of Ukraine and other former Soviet and imperial lands.” [4]
The Impact of Wrong Assessment
They thought of Vladimir Putin as the savior and true friend of the West who was able to change his skin to match his narcissism. They viewed him as a superhero who would follow Western policy without hesitation.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) created a justification for waging a criminal war against Chechnya. It has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that this agency, with the confession of witnesses, including one of the agency’s officers, who is also a former officer in the KGB, caused explosions in Russian cities, placed explosives, and carried out suspicious activities in this regard.
Absolutely, time has proven that Putin has disappointed all those who put their trust in him, as they believed that he would be as they wanted him to be, different from the previous and successive Communist rulers of Russia, even if he proved this by trampling on the skulls and bodies of innocent victims. Thus, the inevitable result was the complete destruction of Chechnya for the second time in few years, especially its cities and towns, where hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed and/or displaced.
During the subsequent years of Vladimir Putin’s rule, he clung to the presidential seat to the point of changing the laws related to elections and adapting them in a way that could enable him to remain in power for life.
Not to mention igniting the fuse of war against Ukraine, both when the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula was occupied and annexed to the Russian state in 2014, as well as the comprehensive war that was declared against Ukraine in 2022, which is still raging until now. Note that its goal is to seize and control the territories of an independent and sovereign state that is a member of the United Nations.
Rejecting the Fait Accompli
If we assume that ethnic Russians agree to what is happening regarding the monopoly of ruling regime in the hands of one person who holds the reins of power and distributes it according to the preferences of those close to the ruling authorities, the truth indicates that there are peoples and nations who are powerless and overwhelmed, who have neither decided nor agreed to join voluntarily what is called nominal federalism. All this occurred and continues to prevail due to the deepening authoritarian rule.
Most autocrats “pursue a two-step strategy for undermining democracy: first, scapegoat and demonize vulnerable minorities to build popular support; then, weaken the checks and balances on government power needed to preserve human rights and the rule of law, such as an independent judiciary, a free media, and vigorous civic groups.” [5]
This is an event that rarely happens and therefore occurs in the largest colonial country in the world today. Lies and concepts of ranting have proven that the invaders lack civilization characteristics, when dealing with citizens of non-Russian ethnicity. The exposed crimes according to the genocidal engineering incarnate the impact on the wretched people of the invaded homelands.
The Circassian New Year 6233
In light of the Russian elections and their results, one of the colonized indigenous peoples celebrated the Circassian New Year on March 20. This day in the year 2024 AD fell on March 20, the day on which the hours of day and night become equal, with the beginning of the spring. Celebrating Circassian New Year’s Day demonstrates the nation’s existence, longevity, authenticity, distinctive heritage, and the depth of its roots in its homeland, located in the northwest of the Caucasus.
The reference to which this celebration refers is the year 4209 BC. At the new year, the Circassians were active for three days celebrating, praying and worshiping. They worshiped the stars, the sun, the moon, the rivers, the trees and other natural phenomena. They performed prayers so that a season would come that would bring them grain and agricultural crops. They practiced spiritual rituals that preceded the heavenly religions.
They offered sacrifices according to specific rituals and served popular food dishes. They deemed this occasion to be the start of a new life cycle. They played music, performed folk singing and dancing, and other cultural activities, such as performing arts, getting dressed in their national costumes, and displaying their arts and handicrafts.
The new Circassian New Year 6233 coincides with the Spring Equinox, which took place on Wed, Mar 20, 2024. When night and day are equal, thus the hours of the night and the day are also equal. A festival in the Republic of Adygea embodies “the ancient celebrations, games, and rituals associated with the auspicious day. Official Adygea is inculcating ancient native customs and beliefs in the new generations to heighten and strengthen their national awareness and identity.” [6]
At the present time, “the Circassian New Year helps to unite the people. Ten years ago it became clear that children know neither their mother tongue nor Circassian traditions … stressing that now this holiday has united all the Circassian republics. Each village holds a torchlight march, headed by a village elder who offered up a prayer for a good harvest. Young people in national costumes walked around the courtyards and performed ritual songs and dances.” [7]
Conclusion
In the end, it is inevitable to call a spade a spade, and to accurately define or describe reality, effect or meaning. Nothing is right but the right thing that needs to be verified and established. Accordingly, matters that have been overlooked or circumvented must be addressed. The uncivilized policies of slaughter, destruction and extermination should be the policies and conduct of the past. All peoples and nations long for freedom and the right to self-determination that lead to freedom of choice and independence. “Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.” – Thomas Edison
**************************
References
[3] https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/3/18/24104857/putins-russia-elections-2024-results-navalny
[4] https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/3/18/24104857/putins-russia-elections-2024-results-navalny
[5] https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/global
[6] https://www.facebook.com/A.Jaimoukha/photos/a.321478161229788/1139026542808275/?type=3
[7] https://eng.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/55020
