Vladimir Putin, Vote of Full Confidence from Russian People
A convincing victory for Putin with nearly 90% of the vote. Of the 112 million people eligible to vote for the re-election of Russia's president, near 76 million people have voted
The counting is almost complete, and Vladimir Putin is leading in the presidential election in the Russian Federation with 87.32% of the votes in favor. As reported on Monday morning, March 18, by Ella Pamfilova, chairperson of the Central Election Commission, CPRF representative Nikolai Kharitonov won 4.30% of the vote. In third place was the leader of the New People party, Vladislav Davankov, with 3.82% of the vote, and the three “competitors” of Putin were rounded out by LDPR president Leonid Slutsky with 3.20% of the vote.
While the West continues to repeat the familiar mantra that the Russian vote “was neither free nor democratic,” the plebiscite in Putin’s favor actually produced truly exceptional results. Turnout exceeded 74%, with more than 372,000 voters casting their ballots abroad. The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called the participation of her compatriots “extraordinary,” having been hammered into it for years by womb-like and primitive anti-Russian propaganda.
According to many analysts, Putin owes his gratitude for nearly 90 percent of the vote primarily to the United States and its allies, who “as always understand little or nothing about the mentality of the Russian people,” who in the face of external pressure traditionally tighten around the country’s undisputed leader. “The real negative results for European peoples of the anti-Russian policy of Washington and Brussels will not be long in coming, and the West will bitterly regret it,” political scientist Igor Konstantinov emphasized.
For Putin, “the election result represents the full confidence of citizens that we will do everything as planned.” During a post-vote rally with his campaign activists, Putin emphasized that his election victory would allow Russia to consolidate society and become even stronger and more effective: “No one will ever suppress Russia when we are so consolidated, when we are one family,” the re-elected president said. “No matter how many people have tried to intimidate us, to suppress our will, our conscience, no one in history has ever succeeded. They have failed now and will fail in the future,” he added to applause from his supporters. “My victory,” he added, “shows that Russia was right to choose its current path.”
Subsequently, during an impromptu televised press conference, Putin mentioned Alexei Navalny’s name publicly for the first time, confirming that he personally supported the idea of a prisoner exchange involving the activist and political opponent. Responding to a question from a journalist from US broadcaster NBC News, Putin said that “a few days before Navalny’s death” he had received an offer to exchange his opponent for some Russian citizens “detained in Western countries.” Putin said he immediately supported the idea, which came “from some colleagues who were not part of the (US president’s) administration.”
“Believe it or not, the person talking to me hadn’t finished the sentence yet, and I had already responded: ‘Agreed,’” the Russian president said, adding that he had set the only condition: Navalny will never return to Russia. “Unfortunately, what happened happened,” Putin added.
China first expressed its congratulations to Vladimir Putin on his overwhelming victory in the presidential election. “China expresses its most sincere congratulations on this,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at the daily briefing. “China and Russia are each other’s biggest neighbors and are strategic and cooperative partners in the new era,” Lin added.
