![]() ![]() Putin also has options to be speaker of the Duma (parliament) or leader of its main party, United Russia, thereby exercising power behind the scenes in the manner of Jaroslaw Kaczyński, leader of Poland’s Law and Justice party. Or he could become chair of the State Council, a body he created. So under proposals unveiled last week, Putin could assume a newly powerful post of prime minister in 2024 when his presidential term ends. He values a veneer of democratic legitimacy. Yet it appears Putin does not want to emulate out-and-out dictators in other countries by making himself president-for-life – the path chosen by China’s Xi Jinping. ![]() ![]() To yield power would be to invite retribution, legal or physical. ![]() Russia under Putin’s grim tutelage has grown notorious for cronyism and corruption on a vast scale, repression of domestic opponents and free speech, and military aggression and disruption abroad.Īgain like Stalin, retirement is not a safe option for the ruthless ex-KGB spy who normalised assassination as a modern-day tool of state policy. ![]()
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