A Westerner’s view from Moscow of Russia’s presidential election

A Westerner’s view from Moscow of Russia’s presidential election

By: Rachel Marsden

MOSCOW – It just so happens that s pring hit on Election Day in Moscow. Massive mounds of piled-up snow lining the sidewalks, and any patches of ice that managed to dodge the permanent wintertime layer of rock salt, morphed into puddles as the temperature jumped from a windy -15C up to 6C in what seemed like the blink of an eye. It would almost seem conspiratorial if it wasn’t absolutely typical. And there’s a tendency for Westerners to view this entire election through the same sort of prism.

One of the main Western criticisms of Russia’s electoral process is that not everyone who wants to run for president can do so. And that’s different from resource-intensive Western elections how, exactly? The diversity of candidates in this Russian presidential race is about on par with the current choice in America’s own, frankly. Here, Western media reports criticized the crash of the online voting system that caters to voters of 28 regions, including Moscow. But with all the debate over electronic voting machines and “stolen elections” in the U.S., too, doesn’t it all just seem a bit too convenient to dismiss electoral results that one might not particularly like — whether it’s in the U.S. or in Russia?

In Western elections, there’s also a recognized advantage enjoyed by wartime presidents, the logic being that you don’t change horses during battle. That also applies in Russia. And the perception here is that Putin is single-handedly taking on all of NATO, their cash and weapons, in Ukraine — and winning, to the point where French President Emmanuel Macron has now talked openly about sending NATO troops and effectively starting World War III as a face-saving measure because he and his NATO pals were foolish enough to get into a war without enough ammo, then fumble around for a couple of years.

It could also be argued that Macron took a page from Putin’s playbook in creating a new, pragmatic “big tent” party to consolidate his political power in France and catapult himself and his entourage to power. As de facto leader of the United Russia party, with the vast majority of seats in parliament, Putin has indisputably reformed and modernized the country, with the BBC reporting as far back as 2018 that Putin has “overseen an economic boom” during which “living standards for most Russians improved, and a renewed sense of stability and national pride emerged.” And speaking with people here in the streets on voting day, that’s mainly what it came down to. They trust Putin to steer the ship while they focus on their daily lives — whereas they fear that a less experienced captain might end up plowing into an iceberg.

Of the three candidates running against Putin, two made him look like the Dalai Lama. None of them were ever expected to get more than a handful of votes. But the electoral buffet certainly had something for everyone. If you’re a pragmatist, Putin’s your man. If you long for the years of Soviet greatness and lament Putin’s liberalism, then the anti-West right-wing Leonid Slutsky (who won 3.2 percent of the vote) is for you. Or maybe the Communist Party’s Nikolay Kharitonov (4.4 percent of ballots) whose slogan was, “We tried capitalism — and we had enough.”

It’s the kind of thinking that still resonates with enough babushkas who still revere the Soviet Union’s legacy — its industrial revolution, space travel pioneering, and the Red Army’s role in defeating of the Nazis — since the Communist Party represents the official opposition. And that guy’s not in prison, despite the Communist Party being Putin’s main opponent, contrary to Western ethos that thinks it’s Western-style liberalism. The closest embodiment of that is actually Putin himself.

Vladislav Davankov of the New People’s Party, also advocates in favor of economic liberalism and resonates with some of the younger voters, scoring 3.9 percent. His team had a great ground game — at least on par with Putin’s — with flyers and billboards.

Still, anyone looking for Western-style “wokism” wouldn’t find it with 40-year old Davankov. It just doesn’t fly here, even among the vast majority of youth. I can’t count the number of young people who, when they learn I’m from North America, ask about all the weird gender bending going on. It’s the first thing that comes to their mind, and they want nothing to do with it or the kind of ideology that fuels it. Nor are they interested in supporting someone who seems propelled by foreign interests as a sort of Trojan horse, like the late self-styled martyr, Alexei Navalny (who died last month in prison, ostensibly of a blood clot, if Ukraine’s spy chief is to be believed) and whose funeral here in Moscow was attended by far more NATO country ambassadors than mine would be if I happened to choke on a mouthful of pelmeni here.

Putin’s approval rating has only increased amid the current military conflict — up to 86 percent from 71 percent, according to the Levada Center, widely considered credible in the West.

So this election was only ever going to be a referendum on the war, with any deviation from popularity interpreted as dissent or discontent. So it’s not surprising that his electoral score of 88.5 percent of the vote, is nearly identical to his popularity rating. And the record turnout of 77.5 percent suggests that Russians wanted to send a message. Perhaps to Putin’s critics in the West as much as to the leader himself.