The Russian presidential election ended in mid-March. It was no surprise that the current President Putin won the election again . If the new term is added to his reign, it is expected to last more than 30 years . However, although that is said, in fact, behind this election There are still some parts that make people feel "a bit unexpected". Today, let us talk about the "2024 Russian Presidential Election"! Hiho~ Hello everyone, I am Zhiqi! Russia held the latest presidential election from March 15 to 17 this year. As expected, Putin won a landslide and was elected as the next president. His successful re-election may have left many people with the impression that Putin has been president for a long time. It seems that it is nothing new that he can continue to be re-elected with a tough approach to governance. However, in recent years, due to the war between Russia and Ukraine , Putin’s reputation has actually taken a big hit. In order to prevent the war, European and American countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia , and there are also many people in Russia. There were fierce anti-war voices , so before the election, some people expected that the results of this vote might be less good-looking ! Putin not only won the election again , but also won an approval rating of 87% , breaking the historical record. It couldn't be higher ! What is going on? Do Russians really love Putin so much? Where have all the voices of protest gone? But before we start today’s discussion, let’s go into some business service time! [Pre-election Situation] This election is the first presidential election in Russia since the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War . Therefore, the outside world generally believes that the core issue of this election is "Ukraine." According to the analysis of the "New York Times", Putin once boasted about Haikou in the early days of the war. He said that Ukraine would be captured soon. As a result, the war has been going on for more than 2 years, but both sides are still unable to hold on. In June last year, his mercenary group "Wagner" openly rebelled. Although the incident was quelled within a day , the outside world generally believed that these incidents would It has had a clear impact on Putin's prestige , so for Putin, his goal in this election is not only to win, but also to win a lot, because in this way he can tell the world that our war is supported by public opinion. This message can also be used to stabilize the internal social and political situation. According to the official results of this election, Putin won 87% of more than 112 million votes cast, 11% more than the previous presidential election, setting a record A record high. However, although he got his wish and won a lot , looking back at the voting process of this election , it was not as smooth as expected [Operation "Operation Noon Against Putin!" ] During this election, various forms of protests were reported in many places. The most famous one was the "Noon Against Putin" launched by the politician " Reznik" because the Russian government stipulated that Protests and gatherings are prohibited during the voting period , so they deliberately queued up to vote at noon on the voting day and took the opportunity to gather "legally". In addition to gathering, they also deliberately voted for other candidates or cast ballots. This act of "anti-Putin" was used to express opposition not only within Russia. People also responded to the overseas polling stations set up by Russia in other countries, including the widow of the late opposition leader Navalny. In addition to participating in the relatively mild "noon anti-Putin" action, there were various large and small protests in Russia throughout the voting period , such as damaging ballots , pouring unknown liquids on ballot boxes, throwing petrol bombs at polling stations, etc. There were a lot of incidents , and there was a lot of turmoil. But in the end, Putin won in a record-breaking way. So afterwards, many people questioned whether the election results were based on vote-making at all. [The voting results are inaccurate? 】 First of all, some people think that it is difficult to say whether it is a matter of voting, but the Russian government does try to influence the election results through various methods . For example, the Dutch "Moscow Times" pointed out that the Russian government has directly ordered officials at all levels to find ways to increase this. Therefore, some schools or employers even directly pressure students or employees to say that you must vote and you can only vote for Putin. In addition, some people question the opacity of the election process because it takes three days to vote . In addition to traditional physical voting, electronic voting was opened for the first time. However, the independent election monitoring agency Golos stated that the Russian government did not disclose the vote counting process and did not allow election observers to observe the voting . Therefore, they questioned that the results of this election may not be true public opinion . In the end, Russia Officials claim that people living in the "occupied territories of Ukraine" also have the right to vote, and the number of these voters is as high as 4.5 million. However, many people question how this number was calculated when the war there is still turmoil. ? So before the deadline for our video, the Russian government has not given a positive response to the questions we just mentioned . Some people think that voting is not the focus because the biggest problem in this election is Putin . There are no “real opponents” at all [An election without opponents? 】 On the books, Putin has three serious opponents in this election , but in fact, these people are pro-Putin or people who openly support Putin. "People" , that is, "opposition within the system" . As for the others The real opposition "disappeared" long before the election. Well, yes, maybe they disappeared in various senses and took to the streets to protest? Directly and forcefully suppress independent news published on the Internet? Just copy you out. The person who leads the resistance will end up either in exile or various kinds of death. A while ago, our video mentioned that before the election, the opposition leader "Navalny" suddenly died in prison. The cause of death is unknown, although it is common knowledge. Ding denied that he was involved in this incident , but many dissidents believed that this was an example of Putin's use of any means to eliminate the opposition. However, overall, such opposition voices in Russia may still be relatively small , because many supporters feel that Putin Putin is not only the strongest leader in Russian history , but it is precisely because of his tough methods that Russia has a chance to be great again [Supporters: Putin makes Russia great again! 】 As to why Putin is so popular, our previous video has a relatively complete analysis. If you are interested, you can look it up later. To put it simply, the Russian economy continued to decline in the 10 or 20 years before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. , people are in dire straits , and the economic downturn after Putin took office in 1999 improved significantly in just a few years. For example, Russia's per capita GDP rose from US$1,330 before Putin took office to US$15,000 in 2023. In addition , the national debt and unemployment rate have also improved. In addition, Putin's image and performance of bravely confronting Western countries are also loved by many people. For example, after the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian war, they suffered economic sanctions from Western countries. GDP once declined by 2.1% , but in the last quarter of 2023, GDP grew by 5.1%. Some Russians feel that no matter what happens, Putin will always have a way to reverse the decline, so they believe that he is the best leader in Russian history [What will happen to Russia in the future? ? 】 Although the general election has just ended , the outside world has now predicted that Putin will continue to run for office in 6 years and will be successfully re-elected until 2036. All parties in the Russia-Ukraine war that everyone is most concerned about have analyzed that Putin will indeed work hard to "make Russia great again." In other words, not only will he not cease the war , but he will most likely continue to expand. The goal is to regain the "lost territory during the Soviet period." Because the war will continue, the United States and EU countries may impose more and more economic sanctions . Although "international Data from the International Monetary Fund shows that past economic sanctions did not cause the Russian economy to continue to shrink. However, the U.S. Treasury Department stated that the turmoil caused by the Russia-Ukraine war has caused more than 1 million people to leave Russia , including highly educated young people . It may still be a bit difficult to judge whether the result is good or bad . However, after Putin won the election, the first problem he faced was not Western countries or domestic opponents , but the "Moscow terrorist attack" that occurred not long ago . According to most information It showed that the attack was planned by the "Islamic State of Khorasan (ISIS-K)". However, Putin has always claimed that Ukraine is the mastermind behind this statement. This statement also made the "Islamic State of Khorasan" super unhappy and even threatened: You will not If you talk nonsense , we will keep attacking you until you admit it. So how Putin will respond next will definitely be the focus of international attention. [Our point of view] Before entering the point of view , we would like to express our special thanks to all the members of Zhiqi Qiqi because of all of you. Only with your support and sponsorship can we continue to operate this channel . Thank you very much! If you are willing to support us to go further, please click the "Join" button on the channel homepage to become our member , or you can also use "Super Thank You" to support us with a small amount . Okay, by the way, our team has also been in the process of collecting information. I think the elections in Russia are very similar to those in North Korea. Everyone knows who will be elected , but the authorities still hold the election . It feels like it's just a show? Just a formality? But in fact, Russia is still different because in 1991, when the first democratically elected president took office after the collapse of the Soviet Union , Russia actually experienced a short-lived democratic system , but the economy at that time was worse than that of the Soviet Union, which may have indirectly led to Putin’s opportunity to The strongman's posture has once again changed Russia's political environment. So from this perspective, we also find that the birth and maintenance of a democratic country is really not easy . It does not require someone to establish a system and it can continue to operate smoothly. It may take a long time to shift from authoritarianism to freedom. It has taken decades of accumulation , but it may only take a few years to return from freedom to authoritarianism , and under an authoritarian system, leaders can more easily use their power to suppress opposition voices . Of course, we do not feel that this Russian election is The result means that most people support the war or completely like Putin. But from an outsider's perspective, it is difficult for us to be optimistic and say that this is a result that can give people hope . Okay, let me ask the last question. What do you think of Putin's successful re-election? Finally, if you like today’s video, please share it to let more people know about the “2024 Russian Presidential Election”! In addition, you can also click here to see "Why Putin is so popular" and "Russian terrorist attacks" . So, today's Zhiqi Qiqi comes to an end here. See you tomorrow night!
