Twenty years ago, on March 26, 2000, Vladimir Putin won the first-round of the presidential elections in Russia. However, his initial comments suggested that he recognized that he did not get the kind of mandate that could lead him to act without taking into account other political forces in the country.
Mr. Putin noted from his campaign headquarters in Moscow that the Communist Party had done better than expected, but added that “there are many people in the country who are not satisfied with the state of things. People are tired, things are tough for them, and they expect better things from me. But, of course, miracles don’t occur.”
Procedurally, the election was correct. However, Mr. Putin’s remarks highlighted that the election was substantively undemocratic. His acknowledgement of the continuing strength of his political opponents was seen as potentially leading to a new and different relationship between the executive and legislative branches of the Russian government. It was hoped that this new relationship would contribute to the institutionalization of democracy in Russia, as many observers expected to see the demise of communism.
The election of Mr. Putin was also notable as the first genuinely democratic transfer of power in the history of Russia. Paul Goble, in his analysis noted three points about the election. First, the resignation of Boris Yeltsin allowed Mr. Putin to exploit the powers of incumbency and the popularity of the military campaign in Chechnya without his opponents being able to rally their forces against him. Second, Mr. Putin acknowledged the government’s ability to control the still largely state-owned electronic media, from which most Russians received their news and information, which allowed Mr. Putin to define the terms on which the election would be contested. Third, his occasional swipes at regional leaders, the oligarchs and other members of the party of power made it possible for him to use the powers of incumbency in ways that led to most of those individuals to back him largely out of a sense that they had no choice.
There remained far too few competitively available political resources in the Russian political system for it to be called institutionalized democracy. Many outside observers and those from within Russia placed hope on Mr. Putin to build a coalition with his political opponents rather than ignoring and isolating them, as President Yeltsin had done.
However, it was not to be. In his 20 years as either president or prime minister of Russia, Mr. Putin has proven to be a calculating and formidable autocrat for both the international community and the Russian Federation, who is unable to relinquish power to another person and is seeking to potentially extend his rule until 2036.
Source: “Putin victory not a mandate,” by Paul Goble (RFE/RL Newsline), The Ukrainian Weekly, April 2, 2000.