Putin sworn in as president after hundreds arrested
VLADIMIR PUTIN has been sworn in as Russian president for another six years in a lavish Kremlin ceremony days after police detained hundreds at protests against his continued rule.
The 65-year-old, who has been in power for 18 years, took the oath of office with his hand on a gold-embossed copy of the constitution, in front of 5,000 guests in the Grand Palace.
After striding through the huge gilded doors of the hall to be sworn in, Mr Putin promised in a speech that “Russia will continue to strengthen its might, and people will live better”. He reiterated his call during the election for improved living standards and “economic and technological breakthroughs” while warning against social unrest.
“In more than 1,000 years of history, Russia has suffered through epochs of troubles and trials, and always was resurrected like a phoenix,” he said. “It achieved heights that were beyond the strength of others, that were thought to be unobtainable, but for our country became, on the contrary, a new springboard, a new historic frontier for a further powerful leap forward.” Mr Putin was re-elected in March with 77 per cent of the vote, giving him a clear mandate, despite allegations of ballotstuffing in some regions.
Alexei Navalny, the opposition leader and his most outspoken critic, was barred from running over a politicised embezzlement conviction.
On Saturday, thousands demonstrated against the president’s fourth term under the slogan “he’s not our tsar”. Police detained Mr Navalny and some 1,600 other protesters, according to OVD Info, the independent monitor.
Before the election, Mr Putin called for economic growth and increased government spending but also announced hypersonic nuclear weapons to overcome US missile defence, continuing the bellicose rhetoric of recent years.
Although Russia’s economy has emerged from a recession and is expected to grow 1.7 per cent this year, it has suffered from volatile oil prices and Western sanctions, and 22million are now living below the poverty line.
In one of his ambitious “May decrees”, Mr Putin ordered the government yesterday to halve the poverty level and increase average life expectancy from 72 to 78.
According to the constitution, Mr Putin cannot run for president again, casting uncertainty over Russia’s future after 2024.
After the inauguration, Mr Putin re-nominated Dmitry Medvedev, who kept the presidential seat warm for him in 2008-12, to continue his duties as prime minister.
Among the guests of honour at the Kremlin yesterday was Steven Seagal, the American action film star who received a Russian passport from Mr Putin in 2016.
Social media users poked fun at the pompous inauguration ceremony, especially when the head of the constitutional court appeared to mix up similar-sounding Russian words and declare Mr Putin’s new term a “crime” rather than an “appointment”.
Angela Merkel, the German leader, will meet with Mr Putin in Sochi later this month, a Kremlin aide said yesterday.
This week, Mr Putin will receive Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli leader, who is expected to push back against Russia’s announcement that it will deliver S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Syria following American, French and British air strikes there.