Economics
Putin’s Power Play May Hinge on Premier’s Economic Revival
- Unpopular ruling party faces elections in 18 months at most
- Kremlin wants to keep ‘constitutional’ two-thirds majority
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If Vladimir Putin plans to keep power in Russia beyond 2024, he must solve a more immediate problem. How can he keep his iron grip on parliament at elections next year when the ruling party is so unpopular?
United Russia is near a historic low in opinion polls after five years of economic stagnation. The Kremlin faces the task of retaining the party’s constitutional super-majority in the lower house of parliament without resorting to the sort of tactics that ignited protests in the past against alleged mass fraud.