Russian regions are getting ready for the change in the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily affirmed. The report, which was intended for a governor and which is available for the newspaper, reported that the Kremlin political strategists decided to change the image of macho to the image of a wise patriarch. The authors of the report claimed with the reference to the Russian presidential administration that the struggle against corruption in the Defence Ministry that raised heated debates in the media became a response to Putin’s falling rating and the moods of Russians.
The document was drafted for the office use of a governor, a source in the newspaper explained. A greater part of the report is devoted to the struggle between the elites, with which the authors of the document explain a new spiral of the struggle against corruption with the reference to the insider information from Moscow.
The report stated that Vladimir Putin acts in the role of a referee between conventional teams of the liberals and the law enforcers. The president is allegedly ready to have closer relations with the liberals, who are less corrupt, “to calm down the population.” While the law enforcers hamper this rapprochement, because in the meantime Putin gave too much power to them, “it is difficult to bring them a peg down without any damages.” The recent appointment of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister points to the fact that the president is more inclined towards the liberals, according to the document.
The image of macho should be replaced with the image of a wise patriarch of Russian politics, as the authors of the report put it. This image will help him to use his favourite tactics further and allegedly be not aware about the disputes between his subordinates.
The first hints to this issue should be sought in Putin’s annual presidential state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly, the document runs. Then the president is expected to have some breathing period, probably a quite long period of time, the authors of the report noted. Only after this the political strategists will begin promoting actively a new image of the president along with a vigorous construction of different parties with the All-Russia People’s Front in the vanguard.
The document affirmed that the struggle against corruption and the change of the presidential image resulted from the reports and investigations, which were conducted in the presidential administration upon the results of the Russian regional elections on October 14. The sociological surveys showed a falling level of trust to the Russian leadership and nearly revolutionary moods in the minds of Russians.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin is concerned over the activities of the opposition, because a relevant legal field had already been prepared. The report noted that “the main danger is coming from the protests of Russians over a falling life level, for instance, the protests in the labour staffs.”
Vice-President of the Centre of Political Technologies Rostislav Turovsky noted that the change in Putin’s image is ripen, particularly for the reasons of his age, “He will have the image of a patriarch of Russian politics. He will fit it quite well, as he has a vast top managerial experience, knows all the ropes and details of the Russian political system. It is common knowledge that the patriarchs do not have the age.”
Turovsky estimated the relations between Putin and United Russia as quite cold, “If it is needed he will support the party, or, on the contrary, he will criticize it sharply.” For this reason United Russia will be confronting strongly the creation of blocs with the All-Russia People’s Front, otherwise, they will blend with it, the expert underlined.