Demonstrations weaken Putin

Tens of thousands of Russians gathered in Moscow and St. Petersburg on Saturday to demonstrate against Vladimir Putin. The presidential election on March 4 could see Putin sorely disappointed, writes the left-liberal daily El País: "The huge protests probably still won't prevent Putin from being elected Russian president for the third time. The opposition is not a coherent political force and lacks a national leader. Moreover the current prime minister is still the most popular politician, even with 20 percentage points less in the polls than he had at the end of 2010. He has been able to do as he pleased over the past 12 years, but now his position is weaker. He knows that the presidential elections - which can no longer be rigged so easily - will be an acid test of his popularity. If a second round is necessary because he falls short of the 50 percent he needs that would be an unprecedented humiliation for the man who won landslide victories the previous two times."

» full article (external link, Spanish)
More from the press review on the subject » Social movements, » Elections, » Russia

» To the complete press review of Monday, February 6, 2012