Putin restored Russia’s pride
MOSCOW: Vladimir Putin, who will step down on Wednesday after eight years as president, allowed nothing to get in the way of his goal of making Russia great again.
Most Russians think he succeeded. Russia’s economy is flourishing, a Chechen bid for independence has been quelled and this week Russia’s military will display its reviving might by parading tanks through Red Square.
Foreign governments and a minority inside Russia ask at what cost. On Mr Putin’s watch, Russia’s relations with the West have turned prickly while critics accuse him of accumulating huge power at the expense of democracy and human rights.
Either way, he has left a big mark on Russia and his legacy is still being written. His successor Dmitry Medvedev has said he will continue Mr Putin’s policies while the ex-president himself will retain power as prime minister.
MODEST BEGINNINGS: Back in Aug 1999, when the ailing and unpopular President Boris Yeltsin named former KGB spy Putin as his prime minister and heir apparent, the country did not know what to make of him.
He was a 46-year-old head of the Federal Security Service — one of the successor organisations to the KGB — with no record in elected office.
He preferred beer to vodka, judo to saunas and his thin blond hair and clipped manners seemed foreign to many Russians.
But even before taking over as caretaker president on Dec 31, 1999, after Yeltsin’s surprise resignation, he proved that looks can be deceptive.
Putin sent troops to Chechnya and, at considerable cost in human life, brought the region back under Kremlin’s control.
His popularity soared. In the 2000 presidential election he defeated a strong Communist rival with 53 per cent of the vote.
Putin displayed boldness on the economy. He made liberal Mikhail Kasyanov his prime minister, and pushed through reforms of the tax and financial systems and vast state-owned companies, facing down resistance from government sceptics.
High energy prices did the rest. With a gross domestic product of $1.3 billion and gold reserves exceeding $500 billion, Putin now wants Russia to become one of the top seven world economies by 2020.
When he thought politically-ambitious “oligarchs” who made fortunes under Yeltsin were a threat, he confronted them.
Two oligarchs — Vladimir Gusinsky and Boris Berezovsky — lost their businesses and had to flee while Mikhail Khodorkovsky, main shareholder in the YUKOS oil major, was given an eight-year jail term for fraud and tax evasion.
That was enough to bring other oligarchs into line.
In diplomacy, Putin, who wants to keep Russia as a key international player and values its role in the Group of Eight industrial nations, has never been afraid to irk the West.
He blocked efforts to recognise Kosovo’s independence from Serbia in the United Nations, and maintained warm ties with Iran while other major powers were pressing for sanctions.
Putin has accused Washington of seeking global domination, and clashed with Nato over its enlargement in eastern Europe and over U.S. plans for a missile defence shield.
“I pursue national interests,” Putin has said describing his foreign policy credo.
SOVIET ECHOES: Putin has not hidden his nostalgia for elements of the Soviet Union. He described that country’s collapse as a “geopolitical catastrophe”.
He speaks fondly about his time serving in the KGB, which included a stint in communist East Germany. “There is no such thing as a former intelligence officer,” he once said.
His liberal opponents accuse him of trying to restore the Soviet past. They point to steps like his decision to bring back the Soviet anthem, though with updated words.
But his outlook is more complex: he is a devoted Russian Orthodox believer, something that was anathema under communist rule. He counts the late Anatoly Sobchak, one of Russia’s leading liberals, as his friend and mentor.
Putin’s rule has been marked by seemingly unshakeable popularity, founded on the strong economy.
Even events like the sinking of a nuclear submarine in 2000 or Chechen rebel raids on a Moscow theatre in 2002 and a school in the southern town of Beslan in 2004 have failed to dent his appeal at home. Putin was re-elected in 2004 with over 70 percent of the vote.
His critics though say he is popular because he has silenced dissent and crushed institutions that could challenge his power.—Reuters