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Russia: Putin's new plan to stay in power

It’s official: Vladimir Vladimir­ovich Putin will be in charge of Russia for some time to come, said Anna Nikolayeva and Yelena Rudneva in the Moscow Vedomosti. The Russian president is constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third term next spring—but since nobody expects him to actually give up power, we’ve all been waiting to hear his plans. This week, he told us. At the general congress of the United Russia party, “delegate after delegate” got up and begged the president to amend the constitution so he could run for a third term. Putin demurely refused. But he did agree to head the list of United Russia candidates for the State Duma elections in December, even though he is not a member of the party. That means that in the next Duma, Putin could become prime minister.

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The scene was reminiscent of the Soviet era, said Andrei Kolesnikov in the Moscow Kommersant. First, Putin spoke, outlining the great achievements of the Russian nation and the greatness yet to come. Then came the United Russia speakers, carefully chosen to represent the Russian people: a weaver, an athlete, a businessman. All of them gushed enthusiastically about Putin’s vision. “This is your course, Vladimir

Vladimirovich, and we will follow it into the elections!” squealed one. “There are so many smart, respected people here, let’s think of a way for Vladimir Vladimirovich to remain president in 2008!” shouted another. Thwarted in that aim, United Russia, which “has no ideology” other than supporting whatever Putin says or does, did the next best thing. The party’s delegates agreed to put Putin atop its candidates list and even to adopt the text of Putin’s speech as its party platform.

It isn’t just the theatrics that seem Soviet, said Artem Yefimov in the online news-paper Lenta.ru. Putin’s shocking embrace of United Russia has effectively rendered Russia once again a one-party state. To belong to United Russia is now the easiest way to “demonstrate loyalty and patriotism,” just as belonging to the Communist Party was the guarantor of status in Soviet days. But perhaps we should go back even further in Russian history to find a parallel. I’m thinking of that scene in the Pushkin play Boris Godunov, when the people exhort the title character, “Be our ruler! Be our father, our czar!”

Russia’s future is now set, said Mikhail Rostovsky in the Moscow Moskovsky Komsomolets. United Russia will win a huge majority in December’s elections. Putin will take over as prime minister and install a nobody—probably his recent pick as prime minister, Viktor Zubkov—as placeholder president. Policy will henceforth be conducted from the prime minister’s office instead of the president’s office. “Of course, there remains the tiny matter of the Russian Constitution, which places most power in the presidency, not the premiership. But we can safely assume that Russians will tacitly agree to ignore such unpleasant facts.” De facto if not de jure, Putin will rule.

Shedding those native accents

Ketan Tanna

The Times of India

India’s elite is heading back to school to learn English—again, said Ketan Tanna in the Delhi Times of India. About 3 percent of India’s

population—or some 30 million teachers, lawyers, and business leaders—can speak English fluently as a second language. Yet they’ve now found that simply knowing English isn’t enough; they must speak it well enough to be understood by Brits and Americans. That’s why many are signing up for diction classes. Most Indians speak English “with the peculiar sounds of their mother tongues,” whether Hindi, Bengali, or what have you. “When often sounds like ven and vine becomes wine.” People from Gujarat say an S sound instead of a Sh sound. Those from Uttar Pradesh have trouble starting any word with S “even if they have been to eskool.” Diction classes can cure these ills and spare Indians abroad the embarrassment of having to repeat themselves over and over. As opportunities for English speakers grow, enrollment in such classes is skyrocketing: By some accounts, participation has doubled in the past year alone. It’s a great way, students say, to get rid of that lingering “inferiority complex.”

Must hockey be so mindlessly violent?

Lyn Cockburn

The Edmonton Sun

Brace yourself for a brutal hockey season, said Lyn Cockburn in The Edmonton Sun. Regular play hasn’t even begun, but coaches and pundits alike are already excusing brawling. In a pre-season game last week, a Philadelphia Flyers player slammed into Ottawa Senators center Dean McAmmond so hard that McAmmond was knocked unconscious. Did the Senators gather around their fallen teammate in concern? Did they clear a path to allow doctors access to the ice? No. The Senators’ first impulse was to leave the body where it lay and attack the Flyers. “Replays show players from both teams falling on the inert McAmmond while throwing punches and wrestling.” Commentators shrugged off the melee, saying the players were just “seeking justice.” It’s the same tune they’ve been singing for years. “They say players have to let off steam, that fighting is natural, and besides, the fans like it. It is, they intone, a tradition.” Fine. But once it was a tradition for Catholics to eat fish on Friday and for women to be denied the vote. Perhaps someday this tradition, too, will be proved “wrong, stupid, and maybe even a bit strange.”