Politics and Government of Russia

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/20/politics/donald-trump-russia-g8-g7/index.html

Trump and Macron agree that Russia should be invited to next year's G7 conference, senior admin official says

NATO Media in hysterical glee after some UR candidates lose elections in Moscow

Russia's ruling party takes a hit in Moscow election

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny claimed a tactical victory in the elections, saying that United Russia had suffered a major setback.
"It's clear that (the) Smart Voting (political strategy) worked," Navalny wrote. "Throughout the history of the MGD (Duma), the party in power has not lost so many districts. All well done. However, it's too early to relax."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/europe/russia-moscow-election-intl/index.html

Meanwhile, NATO brags about SUCCESSFUL spying operations in Russia and how they outsmarted Russians by extracting their TOP spy from inside Russia. I suspect this SPY also works as an agitator that promotes civil disobedience movements across Russia with the aim of causing absolute chaos, anarchy and total destruction of the Russian state. I am disappointed that he got away. I wish he gets assassinated in the States, I dont care what methods are used, I just want him dead.

US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017

A US official said before the secret operation there was media speculation about the existence of such a covert source, and such coverage or public speculation poses risks to the safety of anyone a foreign government suspects may be involved. This official did not identify any public reporting to that effect at the time of this decision and CNN could not find any related reference in media reports.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/politics/russia-us-spy-extracted/index.html

As usual, NATO companies are working hard to interfere with Russian elections. I demand that Russia impose stiff and crippling penalties on these companies, otherwise a slap at the wrist punishment will only encourage more election interference.

Russia complains about Facebook and Google election ads

The adverts were seen on social media and the web while local elections were under way in Russia this weekend.

Facebook said Russia should talk to advertisers, who were responsible for complying with local laws.

Google said it supported "responsible" political advertising that complied with Russian laws.

Russia's communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said Google and Facebook had flouted its demand to ban political advertising while voting was under way across the country.

"Such actions can be seen as interference in Russia's sovereign affairs and hindering the conduct of democratic elections in the Russian Federation," it said in a statement.

Russian laws put strict limits on when political adverts can be run and demands they are not seen while elections are ongoing.

In response, Facebook said it was up to advertisers to make sure their messages were sent out at appropriate times.

In a statement given to Reuters, Google said any adverts had to "comply with local legislative demands including the laws on elections and voting rights and mandatory 'election silence' for any geographical areas where such advertising is oriented".

The Roskomnadzor complaint comes soon after Russia rebuked Google for letting YouTube users share information about protests in the country.

Regulators called on Google to remove the videos or face punishment.

kvs wrote:

GunshipDemocracy wrote:

Gref called the main problem of Russia the lack of an effective public administration system

The head of Sberbank believes that after solving it, all other problems will be solved automatically.

https://tass.ru/ekonomika/6217016


on that level it is hard to disagree, but Id' prefer to her missing part. How he sees improving public administration?

Russia has the disease of too many opinion makers endlessly claiming that it is far behind the "advanced countries".    These
morons and shysters should STFU.    If Germany and the USA have superior public administration systems, then why can
they not control massive corruption.    By massive corruption I mean billions of taxpayer dollars wasted on projects that
are not completed or completed with multi-year delays.    Here are some examples:

1) Berlin airport
2) California high speed rail (the just need one line running along the coast)
3) Labrador hydro-electric dam (years delayed and 1000% over budget: $1.5 billion initial cost now over $12 billion).

"Backwards Russia" has not had a single such project in the last 20 years.    I dare anyone to produce an example.
Don't cite the Sochi Olympics.   They cost $9 billion and made a profit.   The $45 billion in infrastructure expenditures
were massive and finished on time.   Russia now has a Black Sea tourist paradise that is paying off the investment.
If there was any corruption that mattered the projects would have been substantially developed.   In fact, for $45 billion,
California could have finished its high speed rail line.  

I think the point of Grief statement is not in any way comparison of the management in Russia with other states but something quite different. Take a look at the statement below which I believe to be in line with the Grief statement.

The Russian Church official call modern Russian men a "national tragedy"
http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=15252

I see the purpose here as to avoid the trap the SU and every other state fell into at some point in time when the One who sets the goals and than rushes everyone toward it vanishes the whole system collapses since no one else can set the goals in the the same manner. Western states dont have such problems as they dont value values and embrace the perverse interpretation of change for the benefit of system existence while Russia embraces values that are proven throughout history and throughout history of thought for the benefit of existence. Those two goals are different by its nature and can not therefore be refered in the same manner. Western one is for the benefit of the few who see their = system existence as the existence of the state as one and the same and the Russian who see the benefit of the whole as the sole guarantor of the state existence. But what does the whole imply? Would it be the same for Russia if it had 150 million people whose sole purpose during the time of their life is just to find jet another way to please their senses thus making during entire time of theirs life one and the same repeatable never ending action (wasted life by any accounts) vs 150 million people who dont feel anxious but instead a pride for spending the time of their life while perfecting the work which is tasked to them with courage and vigor and let not words be just words whose to make those man and more importantly how which is the only way to ensure continuity once the One who vanishes be replaced by the another the One in a World where situation changes rapidly in geopolitical, economical, technological etc way. As was shown by history numerous times throughout past even the strongest and wealthiest countries can fall apart in moment when bad decisions are made and in order to avoid such scenarios only the proven can be true and everything else only tested. Thats why I believe statements made by Grief and Archpriest where not made as to compare current state of Russian decision making process with the Western one but instead the current form of Russian decision making process with the one of which they think as better for the generations to come as to preserve what has been done and further to strengthen future outcome in a way prescribed by Russian national thought.

Russia now stands at the position where whole generation was rised from the ashes of neoliberal thought towards what they will eventually strive toward but has not jet being clearly defined and the taunts to do so from the position of the tradition (the truths that have proved their value throughout past) and position of values that ensure continuity in rise of strength, peace, prosperity, technological advancement etc would be my interpretation of the Grief and Archpriest statements.

Google, Facebook, Youtube, etc. These slimy NATO front companies will not hesitate to interfere with Russia's internal affairs whenever they have the opportunity to do it and therefore needs to be kicked out of Russia for good.

Google, Facebook had ability to block political ads during pre-election silence — watchdog

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. US companies Google and Facebook had all the required instruments for blocking political advertising during the pre-election silence period in Russia, the head of Russian telecom and media watchdog (Roskomnadzor) said.

"Regardless of who posted those ads, those two companies had the instruments [to block them]. They had the opportunity to block political advertising on the day when the Russian legislation prohibits it, during the pre-election silence period," Alexander Zharov told TASS.

"A year ago, during a conversation with those two companies [Google and Facebook] we pointed out that in line with the Russian legislation, the pre-election silence period will take place on September 7, and the elections were scheduled for September 8. Nevertheless, political advertising was present in the services provided by both companies," the Russian official went on.

He added that Russian search engine Yandex and US Google returned completely different search results during the blackout period for election advertising.

"That’s why we are speaking about obvious signs of [election] meddling," Zharov said.

Earlier, Chairman of the State Duma Commission on Foreign Interference in Russia’s Internal Affairs Vasily Piskarev said he and his colleagues would thoroughly analyze data on meddling in Russia’s elections by Google and Facebook, which was provided by the Central Election Commission and Russia’s telecom and media watchdog.

The watchdog blamed Google, Facebook and YouTube for political advertisement during the September 8 elections in Russia, including during the so-called pre-election silence period. Ahead of the voting day, Roskomnadzor warned Google and Facebook that it was unacceptable to post political advertisements on September 7 and 8 in connection with the elections in Russia.

First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Central Election Commission Nikolai Bulayev said in his turn that many materials provided by the Google search engine could be viewed as those exerting influence on voters.

From Enrico Ivanov's twitter:

#Navalny didn't take any seats in #Russia’s regional elections while United Russia party (Putin) has won in all regions except Khabarovsk.
Opposition parties that gained seats:
_ LDPR (Right, Anti-West)
_ KPRF (Communists, Anti-West)
_ Just Russia (Socialists, Anti-West)



https://twitter.com/Russ_Warrior/status/1171492655756238848

Unfortunately, the "liberal opposition" won 20 out of 45 seats in the Moscow City Duma. So, the people who have the highest incomes and standards of living in Russia (Mucovites) are also the most supportive of Western backed politicians. Not surprising.

To create political instability, what matters is the capital city. It is very smart to target these disaffected Russian Yuppies living in Moscow. I am sure there are many man hours and billions spent on "influencing" this demographic via social media.

The support for Navalny and his ilk is strongest among the under 35 year old Mucovites. They are a generation that has no real adult memory of the Yeltsin years and they are dramatically different from older generations in their mindset.

Part of this is pure Putin fatigue - he has been around for almost 20 years - part is a genuine dissatisfaction. I know many people in the regions who are not pro-Western, but who feel their towns and villages are going down the toilet.

Putin is at heart a neoliberal and he clings to the economic policy of his Western trained monetarists advisers. Russia just proudly announced its assets exceed its debt (federal and regional) which should cheer the hearts of its creditors, but which does nothing in the here and now for its people.

Despite all the attention spent on the military aspect, Russia - like the former USSR - will never be confronted much less defeated militarily. In fact, when Russia acts "kinetically" it wins: Georgia, Crimea, Syria.

No, if Russia is to be finally disemboweled, it will be via its own internal politics just like the USSR.

calripson wrote:Unfortunately, the "liberal opposition" won 20 out of 45 seats in the Moscow City Duma. So, the people who have the highest incomes and standards of living in Russia (Mucovites) are also the most supportive of Western backed politicians. Not surprising.

To create political instability, what matters is the capital city. It is very smart to target these disaffected Russian Yuppies living in Moscow. I am sure there are many man hours and billions spent on "influencing" this demographic via social media.

The support for Navalny and his ilk is strongest among the under 35 year old Mucovites. They are a generation that has no real adult memory of the Yeltsin years and they are dramatically different from older generations in their mindset.

Part of this is pure Putin fatigue - he has been around for almost 20 years - part is a genuine dissatisfaction. I know many people in the regions who are not pro-Western, but who feel their towns and villages are going down the toilet.

Putin is at heart a neoliberal and he clings to the economic policy of his Western trained monetarists advisers. Russia just proudly announced its assets exceed its debt (federal and regional) which should cheer the hearts of its creditors, but which does nothing in the here and now for its people.

Despite all the attention spent on the military aspect, Russia - like the former USSR - will never be confronted much less defeated militarily. In fact, when Russia acts "kinetically" it wins: Georgia, Crimea, Syria.

No, if Russia is to be finally disemboweled, it will be via its own internal politics just like the USSR.

Please read the article prior to yours. Who do you consider of the 20 seats to be a liberal member of the opposition?

Only 4 of the 20 opposition candidates are from a liberal party - Yabloko. Navalny is claiming a moral victory stating that his "smart voting" strategy worked: voting for anyone officially against the ruling party. Also, turnout in Moscow was just 20%.

I do maintain that Navalny is dangerous. He is right out of central casting: young, articulate, tall, and handsome.

There is a natural issue of Putin fatigue and there are real issues in Russia despite the fact that Putin has done an amazing job bringing Russian from its state in 1999 till today.

The strength of the establishment in the "West" is that it is diffuse and largely hidden from the public. It does not depend on personalities but on networks and institutions. Russia is and always has been very subject to the competence of its leader. The question is who will come after Putin.

The strength of the establishment in the "West" is that it is diffuse and largely hidden from the public. It does not depend on personalities but on networks and institutions.

This is a very accurate description. Is there a chance for Russia and China to adopt a similar setup? I think this kind of setting is more resistant to regime change tactics and other similar ploys by the west.

nice

"The supremacy of national legislation, above all, the Constitution, over international law, is a historic decision," wrote:

Russian President Vladimir Putin in his Address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday came out with an initiative of establishing the priority of Russia’s Constitution in the national legal space. Putin said this means that "the requirements of international legislation and treaties, as well as decisions by international agencies can be in force in Russia’s territory only if they do not entail restrictions on the rights and freedom of the individual and citizen and do not contradict our Constitution." wrote:

In his opinion after the corresponding amendments to the Constitution Russia will "indeed retain its national sovereignty forever." wrote:

https://tass.com/politics/1109125

SeigSoloyvov wrote:Russian Government resigns, all but Putin that is.

https://tass.com/politics/1109047

He is president, not government to be exact

This guy is prime minister pick, head of Federal Tax Service Mikhail Mishustin, Medvedev goes to security council

https://www.rt.com/russia/478364-putin-next-prime-minister-mishustin/



Mishustin went from not having Wikipedia page at all hour ago to having one on 20 languages already

Yes but President is still part of the Government technical.

I am also aware of that, I was just posting the link.

Oh I know, I was just being funny (forgot to add emoji there)

"Russian political earthquake: Putin sets out plan for Kremlin departure & Medvedev resigns."

Have the liberals taken over? What is going on? I always thought that the president of Russia would come from the intelligence service.

Who is Mikhail Mishustin?

Should we be panicking here?

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/478381-russian-government-resignation-mishustin/

par far wrote:"Russian political earthquake: Putin sets out plan for Kremlin departure & Medvedev resigns."

Have the liberals taken over? What is going on? I always thought that the president of Russia would come from the intelligence service.

Who is Mikhail Mishustin?

Should we be panicking here?

https://www.rt.com/op-ed/478381-russian-government-resignation-mishustin/

For what i could see , putin is seeking to tramsfpr, russia into another venezuela..    
to transform the nation into a wellfare state ,for votes . that is sacrifice nation
development and progress ,for free money for poor.. in change for votes..
such system doesn't work,you give away money for free too population ,they will waste
it in beers and parties and later , will still back stab you ,when they see the lack of development
of the nation.

also it looks as if putin is scared of russia becoming another bolivia.. where evo morales ,took the brilliant idea to try to run again after 15 years in power.. population was becoming tired of the same face ,and decided to vote for opposition..and so putin trying to hold power and rename its position from president to something else,for bypass the constitution.. ..evo to lost a lot of votes to more younger politicians..and with different ideas. and this caused evo to lose his leadership and his influence with the military..
any political leader that loose influence and leadership in society and military get coups..

As usual, Vann has zero idea what he is talking about.

Essentially Putin has prevented any 5th column from ever getting power. Rules specific state that you have to been in the country for 25 consecutive years. No foreign passport ever or PR. No foreign ownership of property, etc.

The new PM is the guy head of the tax services. He was the one that more or less made the Tax service of Russia one of, if not, the best in the world. He is very conservative. All his kids study in Russia and he fits the profile as stated above.

Medvedev was useless in his position. He has done nothing of benefit. What Putin did was essentially prevent another Yeltsin to ever take place.

I believe that this in a sense represents in a Russian way making of the "deep state" with the aim of preserving the philosophy which has provided Federation with the maximum

success. Its aim is to ensure continuity of the learning process while change of generations in power happen to instruct to cooperate and to guide. I think that what we are seeing

happening is the format under which further optimization and expansion of such ways will happen still we will see.

Well its looks like Putin will eventually be "Father of the Nation" as happened in Singapore. And as we discussed here.
But I thought Maxim Oreshkin (civil/economic matters) and Alexei Dyumin (state security/foreign affairs) would take some of Putin's workload in 5 (or even 10!) years time.
With Dymunin as the more likely candidate to be a future president. Esp given that Shoigu and Lavrov are a similar age to Putin.
So I wonder if members here think that Mishustin is a future head of Russia after Putin? Or if it will be others instead?

Firebird wrote:
So I wonder if members here think that Mishustin is a future head of Russia after Putin? Or if it will be others instead?

It is just my personal opinion, but I believe that Mishustin is just the competent person needed to lead the economic reforms and somebody else will succeed Putin. I believe that Putin successor will have most probably also military or FSB or state security background, in addition to strong political credentials.

Firebird wrote:So I wonder if members here think that Mishustin is a future head of Russia after Putin? Or if it will be others instead?

this is a good question. Not sure if Dyumin (Oreskhin I do not  consider too much of an economy expert) but surely nobody from Vth column (living 25 years in Russia and no foreign citizenship or stay abroad in any form       )

Rodion_Romanovic wrote:

Firebird wrote:
So I wonder if members here think that Mishustin is a future head of Russia after Putin? Or if it will be others instead?

It is just my personal opinion,  but I believe that Mishustin is just the competent person needed to lead the economic reforms and somebody else will succeed Putin. I believe that Putin successor will have most probably also military or FSB or state security background, in addition to strong political credentials.

ditto, perhps Dyumin can have place here? Mishustin looks like pretty effective manager, not politician by any way.

Viktor wrote:I believe that this in a sense represents in a Russian way making of the "deep state" with the aim of preserving the philosophy which has provided Federation with the maximum

success. Its aim is to ensure continuity of the learning process while change of generations in power happen to instruct to cooperate and to guide. I think that what we are seeing

happening is the format under which further optimization and expansion of such ways will happen still we will see.

My thoughts exactly

Russia is adopting the system of the West, a toothless president, a toothless parliament, and the grey cardinals, intelligence and other establishment holding levers of pressure if not reigns.