The overwhelming majority of Russian electorate will vote in favour of Vladimir Putin. Is the Kremlin’s propaganda guilty? Read what electorate have to mention.
It is all the time tricky for Russian electorate to precise their opinion publicly, for worry of punishment for talking their thoughts.
But a Czech TV station requested Russians to provide their opinion at the presidential election, anticipated to finish this Sunday, with a triumphant re-election for President Vladimir Putin.
Young other folks interviewed are continuously reasonably complimentary concerning the head of the Kremlin. Here are two examples:
Pavel Kipriyanov, freelance actor: “If we talk in general about the path chosen by my country and my government, well, I understand it perfectly, I accept it, except for certain things that may not suit me. But generally speaking, I’m happy with the direction my country is taking and I think it’s great.”
Milena Shikina, pupil, spouse of Pavel: “Well, it seems to me that it’s been since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 90s, when the country wasn’t in the best of shape and was in fairly serious decline. And then Putin came along and the way our country lives today. I think it’s a good result.”
Many components can give an explanation for this behaviour, says Russian sociologist Lev Gudkov. But on the subject of younger other folks, Gudkov believes “they have lost their understanding of the Soviet era. They have no experience of it and have nothing to compare it with. They have been brought up, you might say, under Putin, and they know nothing else.”
It’s no longer so simple as a generational hole. Of the hundreds of electorate who’ve determined to depart Russia over the past two years, many were younger males, decided to flee the regime and conscription to combat in Ukraine. But, proportionally, many had been not able to depart, whilst others selected to not depart their place of origin. So why vote for Vladimir Putin in any case?
Milena’s father, for his section, is an outspoken opponent of the Moscow regime. But Artur Shikin, a construction contractor, needed to flee Russia and take safe haven in Georgia. His opinion is uncomplicated. “There are 150 million people, can’t they oppose it? It’s like with Stalin: people said that Stalin was responsible for everything. But at the same time, one third of the population imprisoned another third of the population and kept them in prisons, all that was done by people.”
As for older electorate, Gudkov additionally has an evidence. “Under Putin,” he explains, “the idea of the future has disappeared. People have no image of the future and, as a result, there are no guidelines for development. That’s what propoganda is saying: preserve the present”.
One factor is nearly sure: contemporary surveys have proven that almost all of Russian electorate are dependable to Putin, with make stronger at round 70% when put next with 20% for the opposition – even if those figures are exhausting to ensure.
Two-thirds of this similar inhabitants wholeheartedly settle for the guidelines put out via state tv and the pro-Kremlin media. But is it out of conviction or abnegation?
