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Putin touts Russia’s ‘right direction’ in annual phone-in
MOSCOW, June 7, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – President Vladimir Putin on Thursday
opened his annual televised phone-in, a carefully choreographed Kremlin event
in which he promised Russians the country was going in the “right direction”.
The annual event allows Russians to submit questions via phone, text and
online to the president, who addresses their concerns and weighs in on
geopolitical issues.
This year’s “direct line” is the first in Putin’s fourth presidential
term, which has already seen crackdowns on civil society and internet
freedoms, and comes a week before Russia hosts the World Cup.
“Overall, we are moving completely in the right direction. We are on
track for durable growth in the economy,” he said in opening remarks to two
moderators introducing questions from the public.
“There are, of course, a number of problems to address,” he said of an
economy that continues to stall after a crash in 2014 following sanctions
introduced by the West over the annexation of Crimea.
The event has in the past lasted over four hours, with the president
fielding questions on subjects as varied as his love life, teachers’
salaries, Crimea and provincial roads.
State television ran a breathless countdown to the session, updating the
number of questions submitted — some two million as the programme began.
Written questions appeared on screens beside the president during the
broadcast, some of them less than flattering about the state of the nation.
“When will Russia start allocating its money to Russians?” one read.
“Why didn’t Alexei Navalny get registered for the presidential
elections?” asked another, referring to Putin’s top critic who was barred
from contesting presidential polls in March.
In contrast to previous phone-ins, this year Putin has called on regional
leaders and ministers to stand by to go on live with the president to address
nitty-gritty questions.
“They will be sitting by the television with bated breath… the phone in
their hand and a sedative in the pocket,” the Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid
joked.
Last year the president jokingly offered ex-FBI chief James Comey
political asylum and confirmed that he had grandchildren — a rare glimpse
into an otherwise strictly guarded private life.
The phone-in has in the past seen Putin reject calls to annex Alaska and
take a question from the US whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Putin, who was re-elected in a landslide in March, has promised to slash
poverty and revive a stalled economy in the face of Western sanctions.
BSS/AFP/RY/1702 hrs