15 years since the election of Vladimir Putin as president

Exactly 15 years after the resignation of Boris Yeltsin, first president in the history of Russia, on December 31st 1999, majority of Russians for the first time entrusted Vladimir Putin to lead the country.

Initially, presidential elections in Russia were to be held in June but after Yeltsin’s resignation early elections were appointed for March 2000. The post was contended by 11 candidates. Notably, most of Putin’s rivals at the 2000 election campaign are still in politics this or that way: Gennady Zyuganov, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Aman Tuleyev, Grigory Yavlinsky, Ella Pamfilova and others.

Putin defeated them all in the first round of voting with 52.94% of the vote. He was followed by the Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, who scored 29% Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of the Yabloko party, was third with only 5.8% of votes. Those almost 53% of votes were a good advance he would justify by meeting his voters’ expectations. In 2004, we scored already 71.31% of the vote, and 63.6% — in 2012.

Now, after 15 years in top echelons of power, Putin’s electoral ratings are sky high. According to the February poll conducted by the Public Opinion Fund, 74% of the polled said they would vote for Putin. Putin’s presidential approval rating is still higher: as many as 88% of Russians approve his job as the head of state, according to the March 13 poll by the All-Russian Public Opinion Centre (VCIOM).

Next presidential elections are to be held in three years, in 2018. Under the Russian constitution, Putin may run for another six-year term. Not long ago, he gave to understand that it was too early to look that further. “It is necessary to work hard in the interests of Russian citizens and based on the results and judging by the moods in society it will be possible to decide who will take part in elections in 2018,” he told a news conference last December.

Source: MSN

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