Loved and loathed Putin celebrates 60th
MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin turns 60 on Sunday, his grip on power weaker than in the past but under little immediate threat if the oil price stays high.
Adoring supporters will celebrate in cities from Siberia to Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, where the ruling party’s loyal Young Guard will unfurl a banner on a bridge, symbolizing Putin’s role by uniting Asia and Europe.
Opponents will make their feelings known much closer to home, protesting near Moscow’s Red Square under the banner: “W e’re sending the old man into retirement”.
The organizers plan to send their own symbolic message by asking protesters to bring gifts for a pensioner — anything, from reading glasses to a pipe.
Putin will be relaxing with his family and plans no special celebrations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. A few months into a third term as president, he may be reaching retirement age, but has no plans to retire.
After 12 years as Russia’s paramount leader, opinion polls show Putin enjoys higher ratings than most W estern politicians, but they are down from their peak during the oil-fuelled economic boom of his first presidency from 2000 until 2008.
In August, the independent Levada polling group said 48 per cent of Russians had a positive view of him compared to 60 per cent in May when he began a new six-year term.
“Age doesn’t matter in what Vladimir Putin does or does not do,” said Konstantin von Eggert, a political commentator, adding Putin’s views had changed little since he came to power.
“His vision is rather pragmatic and reduces a person to two functions — he can either be a friend or a foe.”
But a poll published this week showed one in five Russian women would still be happy to marry him, even though he is about to reach an age at which he can collect his pension.
Interestingly enough, six per cent of respondents said they would definitely marry Putin, while 14 per cent said they would probably like to wed him, the Moscow-based Levada Centre said in a statement. Two-thirds said they wouldn’t, including 43 per cent of women who were definitely opposed.
“Among women with secondary educations and aged 25 to 39, a quarter said they would like to marry Vladimir Putin,” the polling organization said.
Those most uninterested in marrying the three-term president were the wealthy, with 86 per cent saying no, the poll said. Seven in 10 women age 55 or older were also opposed, Levada said.
Putin met his wife Lyudmila Shkrebnyova, at the time a flight attendant, before leaving to serve in the KGB in Germany. They married on July 28, 1983, and have two daughters, Maria and Katerina. The couple are hardly ever seen in public.
As far as birthday tributes go, staterun television channels will celebrate his years in office with what are expected to be glowing profiles.
Putin has cultivated an image as a strong leader never shy of criticizing the W est, embraced the resurgent Russian Orthodox Church and used Russia’s oil revenues to dampen discontent. Populist policies include generous increases in public sector pay, extra social benefits and regional development programs.