ENTRE News – Russian President Vladimir Putin won a landslide victory in the presidential election which lasted for three days until last Sunday (17/3). Putin’s victory in defeating the three other candidates would strengthen the grip on power he has held for the past several decades. When asked by the United States (US) media about his victory, Putin criticized the US political system.
In his victory speech, Putin said that his victory in the presidential election showed that Russia was right in opposing the West and sending troops to Ukraine. Putin also told his supporters that he would prioritize completing tasks related to what he called Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine and would strengthen Russia’s military.
“We have a lot of work ahead. But as we consolidate — no matter who wants to intimidate us, oppress us — no one has ever succeeded in history, they haven’t succeeded now, and they will never succeed in future,” Putin stressed.
Supporters then chanted “Putin, Putin, Putin” when he appeared on stage, and chanted “Russia, Russia, Russia” after he finished his victory speech.
According to an exit poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) survey institute, Putin received 87.8 percent of the vote in this year’s presidential election. This figure set a record as the highest result in the Russian presidential election after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) also reported that Putin received 87 percent of the vote after the presidential election was held over the last three days. The first official results released by Russian authorities showed that the report by pollsters and research centers was accurate.
The national voter turnout rate, according to Russian election authority officials, reached 74.22 percent when voting ended on Sunday (17/3) local time. This figure exceeds the figure in 2018 when the participation rate reached 67.5 percent.
The United States (US), Germany, Britain and several other countries accused the voting in the Russian presidential election of being unfree and unfair due to the imprisonment of political opponents and the implementation of strict censorship.
The presidential candidate from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) Nikolai Kharitonov ranked second with just under 4 percent of the vote. Meanwhile, presidential candidate Vladislav Davankov from the New People’s Party is in third place, and presidential candidate Leonid Slutsky from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) is in fourth place.
This result means that Putin, who is now 71 years old, will return to office for the next six years as President of Russia. This would make him unseat Josef Stalin and become Russia’s longest-serving leader in more than 200 years, if he completes his term.
Meanwhile, when asked by US television network NBC whether his re-election as Russian president was democratic, Putin criticized the US political and judicial system.
“The whole world is laughing at what happened (in the United States). This is a disaster, not democracy,” he said.
“…Is it democratic to use administrative resources to attack a candidate for President of the United States, in part by using the judicial system?” Putin asked, referring to four criminal cases involving Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who is President Joe Biden’s rival from the Democratic Party in the US presidential FOR4D election next November.