political+team

=The Putin Political Team= Mary Leigh, Sydney, Corinne, and Malinda

Beslan Attacks - Putin used it as a jumping off point to continue strengthening the central government and taking power away from the smaller areas - Good side debate- he has brought power and order to the country

Media - he has bought out the media - rewriting of history

Policy Changes - changes to the Duma - the term -impact on the judiciary - has gone beyond he boundaries of what the Prime Minister is supposed to do


 * Freedom of the Press/Media**
 * 1991 law, “on mass media” guarantees freedom of expression for media, journalists’ rights and citizens right for information
 * but the Russian Government has a large media empire, in which they influence the media and the news content
 * companies with links to the government have bought many of the most influential papers
 * the Russian government owns 60% of the newspapers and almost of the national television stations
 * the two semi-independent stations are said to come under state control in the near future
 * On october 7, 2006 Russian journalist Anna Politkovska, who was well known for criticizing Russia’s doings with Chechnya, was shot in the lobby of her apartment building (after a series of her internationally acclaimed reports about human rights abuse by Russian solders in Chechnya)
 * she was the third killed out of the Novaya Gazeta paper
 * her death triggered criticism of Russia in the Western media
 * Russia remains the most dangerous country in Europe for journalists, four were killed alone in 2009
 * Putin came under harsh criticism of Russia’s media freedom
 * From when Putin first became president (in 2000) to 2007, 14 of the most high profile journalists in Russia died mysteriously, and none of their cases were ever solved
 * in one case Ivan Safronov fell from a 5th floor window (it was called a suicide)
 * everyone thinks that he and his colleagues knew too much about a “shadowy” Russian arms dealing with Iran and Syria, which was said to be embarrassing to the Kremlin
 * “The Kremlin controls all of the mainstream media, especially TV, where most Russians get all of their news. And today’s Russia, criticizing President Putin -- or his system -- on TV is like committing career suicide.”
 * Russia is the third deadliest country for journalists
 * when Putin first came into power, national television stations were the first to lose their independence
 * “Polls show Putin’s popularity has soared. No wonder. Fewer and fewer Russians can see or hear from anyone who opposes him, his policies or his government.”

Beslan crisis Summer 2004, Chechan terrorists from Chechnya, who was attempting to fight for its autonomy, seized a school and held hostage tons of parents, teachers, and children When Russian soldiers tried to rescue the hostages, gunfire broke out, killing 300, many of them children

How did Putin respond politically? Decicded that the govt needed to be more centralized to address terrorism like this Made provincial leaders appointed by the president, instead of locally elected as previously Made Duma fully represented by proportional representations, took away directly elected half Said that central govt would unite Russia under fair and uncorrupt laws, preventing individual leaders of semi-independent regions from making any laws they desired Said letting Chechnya go independent would spell a victory for terrorism

Putin: Not Positive (MLF) -Putin's popularity -While Putin is quite popular among the Russian people on the surface, there are two main reasons why. Putin rode into office along with a rise in gas prices, which led to tremendous growth in the Russian economy. Russian's associate Putin with the economic growth, but it was merely coincidence. Also, Puitn does him best to squash any challenge to him and his power, so the people really don't know anything besides Putin. -Putin's Control -Putin has been quite successful at making sure that his power is absolute. First, he made sure that he and his party won elections. It was a well known fact that these were not honest elections. The government brought in buses of people from Moscow whom they paid to ride around all day to each polling station, each time voting for Putin and the United Russia party. Ironically, it was also commonly known that Putin would win anyway, as he had reestablished the media understate control, and therefore under his control. He also changed the percentage needed to get seats in the Duma from 5% to 7%, so there would be fewer opposition parties being represented. As President, he changed the constitution so a President could serve three consecutive terms rather than just two, knowing that he would become Prime Minister for a term, so he could then be reelected as President. Knowing he could essentially chose a President with his popularity and control of the media, he groomed Medvedev to be his successor. Medvedev, a weak candidate who main qualification to be President was his loyalty to Putin, was an opportunity to continue his power. As Prime Minister, he is still highly influential, definitely more so than any other Prime Minister in the past. -Analysis -Putin is not good for Russia. Russia is overcontrolled and on the verge of a tyranny under Putin. While Yeltsin reforms failed, it does not automatically mean that as a result, Russia MUST have an authoritarian regime. If Russia were to adopt reforms slowly, similar to Putin's slow and subtle changes to a tyranny, a more free government would have a better chance for success. But as along as Putin is in power, there is no hope for this. And the way its looking, Putin will be in power for a very long time.