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Tracing Putin’s 25-year Reign As Russians Vote

Published

2 years ago

March 15, 2024

Editor

The voting process in Russia is ongoing, with incumbent President Vladimir Putin widely anticipated to secure his fifth term as the country’s leader.

Putin is running as an independent candidate.

According to Al Jazeera, other candidates are perceived as “figureheads” and included in the process solely to show Putin’s popularity.

The three-day voting started on Friday, March 15, 2024.

However, based on the 2020 constitutional amendment that invalidated his previous terms, the upcoming March 15–17 election will be considered his first one.

112 million people aged 18 and above in Russia are eligible to vote.

People in annexed Crimea and occupied parts of Ukraine will also vote.

Putin has served four terms.

If he wins, the 71-year-old is anticipated to hold power for an additional six years, courtesy of the 2020 constitutional amendment.

Putin, born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, Russia, is a Russian intelligence officer and politician.

He held the position of President of Russia from 1999 to 2008 and again from 2012 onwards.

Additionally, he has also served as the country’s prime minister in 1999 and from 2008 to 2012.

Below is a timeline of Putin’s 25 years as a leader of the Eastern Europe federation:

Putin has an extensive background in foreign intelligence, having spent 15 years working for the KGB (Committee for State Security).
Shortly after, Putin began working as an advisor to Sobchak, who was the first democratically elected mayor of St. Petersburg.
By 1994, he had ascended to the position of first deputy mayor.

In 1996, Putin relocated to Moscow and became a part of the presidential staff, serving as the deputy to Pavel Borodin, the chief administrator of the Kremlin (The Kremlin is a fortified complex located in Moscow, Russia.
It serves as the official residence and workplace of the President of Russia. It is located at the heart of Russian political power and government).

In July 1998, President Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin as the director of the Federal Security Service
Shortly after, Putin assumed the role of secretary of the influential Security Council.

Yeltsin, in his quest for a successor to carry on his legacy, selected Putin as prime minister in 1999.
As reported by Voice of America, Yeltsin said in a televised speech on August 9, 1999, “I have decided to now name the person who is, in my opinion, able to consolidate society and, drawing support from the broadest political forces, to ensure the continuation of reforms in Russia.

“He will be able to unite around himself those who are to renew Great Russia in the new 21st century.”

According to Britannica, Putin’s public approval ratings experienced a significant boost when he successfully executed a highly organised military operation against secessionist rebels in Chechnya, despite his previous lack of recognition.
Tired of Yeltsin’s unpredictable actions, the Russian public admired Putin’s calmness and resolute nature in challenging situations, as per Britannica.

Putin’s backing of the new electoral bloc, Unity, played a crucial role in securing its triumph in the December parliamentary elections.
Yeltsin made the unexpected decision to step down on December 31, 1999, appointing Putin as the acting president.

Putin secured a decisive victory in the March 2000 elections, garnering approximately 53 per cent of the vote.

Putin was reelected in March 2004 after overseeing an economy that experienced growth following a prolonged recession in the 1990s.
In the December 2007 parliamentary elections, United Russia, Putin’s party, secured a significant majority of seats.

In 2008, Putin selected Dmitry Medvedev as his successor due to a constitutional provision that required him to step down.
Shortly after Medvedev’s victory in the March 2008 presidential election, Putin announced that he would be assuming the role of chairman of the United Russia party.

As anticipated, Medvedev wasted no time in nominating Putin as the country’s prime minister shortly after assuming office on May 7, 2008. The appointment was confirmed by Russia’s parliament the next day.

In September 2011, Medvedev announced that he and Putin would switch positions.
This decision put an end to the speculation about Medvedev running for a second term.

On March 4, 2012, Putin was elected to a third term as Russia’s president.
Prior to his inauguration, Putin stepped down as United Russia chairman, transferring control of the party to Medvedev.

On May 7, 2012, he took office as president and nominated Medvedev as prime minister.

On March 18, 2018, Putin secured a significant majority of the vote in an election that marked the beginning of his fourth term.

In January 2020, Putin announced his intention to bring about modifications that would eliminate term limits for presidents.
Medvedev promptly resigned as prime minister.

Putin signed the law that could extend his time in office until 2036, allowing him to run for the presidency twice more in his lifetime.

According to The Guardian UK, officially, the new law limits Russian citizens to two presidential terms in their lifetime.

It also outlawed the shuffling between the presidency and the role of prime minister that Putin employed earlier in his career.
However, according to the law, terms served before it entered into force are not counted. This means that Putin’s previous four terms, including the current one, are not considered, allowing him to potentially serve two more terms.
If he holds onto power until 2036, his time in office will exceed even that of Joseph Stalin, who governed the Soviet Union for 29 years.

This would make Putin the longest-serving leader in Moscow since the days of the Russian empire.

Headline

US Opposes Palestinian State Recognition, Says It’s Reward For Hamas

Published

1 day ago

September 24, 2025

Editor

United States President Donald Trump and his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, met on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, where they discussed differing views on the future of Gaza and Palestinian statehood.

CNN reports that Trump rejected the two-state solution to the crisis in Gaza, saying the idea portrays “reward” for Hamas.

France recently joined the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Portugal to officially recognise the Palestinian state.

Trump opened the Tuesday bilateral meeting by praising Macron’s diplomatic efforts, claiming the French leader had helped him prevent global conflicts.

“Emmanuel has actually helped me with a couple of the wars,” Trump said, in response to Macron’s recent remark that if the US president wants a Nobel Peace Prize, he should “put an end to the war in Gaza.”

When asked about Palestinian statehood, and his latest remarks, it would be a “gift to Hamas,” Trump again pushed back strongly.

“Well, I think it honors Hamas, and you can’t do that because of October 7. You can’t do that. But we want our hostages back,” Trump said.

“You always have to remember, people forget October 7 was one of the most savage days in the history of the world,” the US president said.

In response, Macron, seated beside Trump, emphasised that recognising a Palestinian state does not mean ignoring Hamas’ October 2023 attacks on Israel.

The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and Israel, fought since October 7, 2023, when the Hamas militant group attacked Israel, which has since launched offensive in the Gaza Strip in retaliation.

Headline

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Is Dead

Published

2 days ago

September 23, 2025

Editor

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz, has died at the age of 82.

According to a statement from the Royal Court, the revered cleric passed away on Tuesday morning.

Born in Mecca in November 1943, Sheikh Abdulaziz rose to become one of the most influential religious authorities in the Kingdom.

He served as head of the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, as well as the Supreme Council of the Muslim World League.

Headline

Antitrust Trial: US Asks Court To Break Up Google’s Ad Business

Published

3 days ago

September 22, 2025

Editor

Google faces a fresh federal court test on Monday as US government lawyers ask a judge to order the breakup of the search engine giant’s ad technology business.

The lawsuit is Google’s second such test this year, following a similar government demand to split up its empire that was shot down by a judge earlier this month.

Monday’s case focuses specifically on Google’s ad tech “stack” — the tools that website publishers use to sell ads and that advertisers use to buy them.

In a landmark decision earlier this year, Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) that Google maintained an illegal grip on this market.

Monday’s trial is set to determine what penalties and changes Google must implement to undo its monopoly.

According to filings, the US government will argue that Google should spin off its ad publisher and exchange operations. The DOJ will also ask that after the divestitures are complete, Google be banned from operating an ad exchange for 10 years.

Google will argue that the divestiture demands go far beyond the court’s findings, are technically unfeasible, and would be harmful to the market and smaller businesses.

“We’ve said from the start that DOJ’s case misunderstands how digital advertising works and ignores how the landscape has dramatically evolved, with increasing competition and new entrants,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs.

In a similar case in Europe, the European Commission, the EU’s antitrust enforcer, earlier this month fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.47 billion) over its control of the ad tech market.

Brussels ordered behavioral changes, drawing criticism that it was going easy on Google as it had previously indicated that a divestiture may be necessary.

This remedy phase of the US trial follows a first trial that found Google operated an illegal monopoly. It is expected to last about a week, with the court set to meet again for closing arguments a few weeks later.

The trial begins in the same month that a separate judge rejected a government demand that Google divest its Chrome browser, in an opinion that was largely seen as a victory for the tech giant.

That was part of a different case, also brought by the US Department of Justice, in which the tech giant was found responsible for operating an illegal monopoly, this time in the online search space.

Instead of a major breakup of its business, Google was required to share data with rivals as part of its remedies.

The US government had pushed for Chrome’s divestment, arguing the browser serves as a crucial gateway to the internet that brings in a third of all Google web searches.

Shares in Google-parent Alphabet have skyrocketed by more than 20 percent since that decision.

Judge Brinkema has said in pre-trial hearings that she will closely examine the outcome of the search trial when assessing her path forward in her own case.

These cases are part of a broader bipartisan government campaign against the world’s largest technology companies. The US currently has five pending antitrust cases against such companies.

AFP