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Mikhail Mordasov / AFP - Getty Images
Builders at a Sochi 2014 Olympics venue eat next to a TV screen showing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's phone-in session on Thursday. The carefully stage-managed annual phone-in is designed to boost Putin's image and show he remains in control of Russia.
Updated at 9:35 a.m. ET: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has confirmed he intends to appoint Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister if, as expected, he is elected president in March. Medvedev is currently the president.
Updated at 7:45 a.m. ET: Vladimir Putin stepped up his criticism of the United States, saying it wants to dominate other countries and that the world is tired of taking orders from Washington.
"Sometimes it seems to me that America does not need allies, it needs vassals," the Russian prime minister said during a televised call-in show.
He said that Russia would like to be an ally of the United States but that "people are tired of the dictates of one country."
He also commented on the announcement earlier this week that billionaire New Jersey Nets basketball team owner Mikhail Prokhorov would be standing against him in next year's presidential elections.
"I think it's right for our country," Putin said of Prokhorov's decision. "I wish him success."
Putin's televised encounter with his citizens was described in a Moscow Times live blog.
Story published 6:20 a.m. ET:
MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for cameras to be installed in all polling stations across the country, while at the same time deflecting allegations that fraud helped his ruling party win recent parliamentary elections.
In his annual televised call-in question-and-answer session, he said the recent elections reflected the views of the population and shrugged off the biggest opposition protests of his 12-year rule, saying they were permissible if they remained peaceful and within the law.
Putin's first public remarks since Saturday's mass protests signaled he would not bow to the protesters' demands for the December 4 election to be rerun. But he made a gesture to them by calling for cameras to be installed at polling stations for the presidential election which he hopes to win on March 4.
"I am proposing and asking for the installation of web cameras at all the polling stations in the country," he said.
"From my point of view, the result of the (December 4) election undoubtedly reflects public opinion in the country," said Putin, taking questions from a studio audience in a call-in broadcast live to the nation.
Putin, 59, has used the annual call-in to burnish his image as a strong, effective and caring leader with a detailed knowledge of the country and an interest in each of its citizens. He has already served two terms as president and was forced under the Russian law to step down after his second term but is now entitled to run again.
But he is under much more pressure this year following protests by tens of thousands of people over the election, which international monitors said was slanted to favor his United Russia.
United Russia won just under half the votes, enough to have a slim majority in the State Duma, the lower house, but fell far short of the strong majority in the previous chamber.
The opposition says its result would have been much worse if there had not been widespread ballot-stuffing and other irregularities.
Putin's authority has been dented by the protests and his popularity sank after he announced plans in September to swap jobs with his ally President Dmitry Medvedev after the presidential poll.
Many Russians saw this announcement as a signal that everything had been cooked up between the two leaders with no respect for democracy, and Putin's ratings have fallen since then.
Putin is still expected to win the presidential election next year but he now faces much more resistance than expected and the call-in was an opportunity to reestablish his legitimacy.
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Msnbc.com staff and Reuters contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
Yeah Pooty - Cameras in the toilet, bedroom . . . you're building a strong constituency there!
Orwell (Eric Blair) would be proud. So would Aldus Huxley. AKA Nineteen Eighty Four and Brave New World. If Ayn Rand had these technologies she would have also included in Atlas Shrugged. Americans PLEASE read all these books. At least you will know what is also coming to America. Seen that camera on your streetlights lately. Or face recognition in NYC street corners. Just the start.
I can't imagine the amount of crimes that would be left unsolved except for the fact that a camera was present to catch the crook in the act.
If we are not going to have a cop on each street corner at least have a camera. If your kid is ever abducted you will be crying for a camera somewhere that hopefully caught a glimpse of something.
In Chicago, the video cams have mics.. If a certain word is overheard, it will cause the camera to refocus and zoom in for a close up of that individual..
Puti's really pitching a tantrum, isn't he.
Hey, US bashing gets votes all over the world. It feeds their constituents' jealousy and makes them happy.
You are right. US is already a police state and is moving slowly towards becoming a dictatorship. Of course, not all dictatorships are the same, but there are variations. However, at the very end it will all be dictated to the people by the Government.
Power to the people!
Yes, Vlad, right. It's all about reducing fraud, and has nothing to do with monitoring how certain individuals are voting so you can round up enemies of the state and send them off to the gulags.
And, yes, ren, at this point, it's only a matter of time till we're living in Huxley's Brave New World. Instead of Soma, we'll have Xanax and Vicodin, but otherwise, there won't be much difference.
Good for you fjbikerchick, did not think anyone reads anymore or at least these kinds of negative utopia novels.
ren-755775,
"Seen that camera on your streetlights lately. Or face recognition in NYC street corners. Just the start."
Yes. And you are probably aware that they are working on and have actually made some progress in developing a technology that can actually detect what a person is thinking. I saw something about that on 60 Minutes once. That would really be the ultimate invasion of privacy.
Mickey they are here now, in the form of the "thought Police". Inner party, outer party, proles.
Wow . . . !
I didn't know Putin was a Republican !
You made me laugh this am Thank You.
He might just be a Republican, he is surely an American with all the negativity, greed, and bull@!$%# materials he keeps around him, not to mention the corruption that he is involved in too.
Why do you think our republicans perceive him as a threat? He is a republican that can do whatever he wants, that makes our republicans envious.
Vlad the Putin has vividly demonstrated his deceit to the Russian people in a multitude of ways. Are they finally becoming politically mature enough to not want a Commiczar?
The Russian people have suffered so much during their history...from the Czarist times when they were little better than slaves, to the Soviet times, when they were finally able to reach serfdom. I was hoping that Gorbachev would have opened the door to genuine political and economic liberation. But, it seems that Vlad wants to stuff the "genie" back into the bottle.
God help the Russians to finally become a proud democratic country, respected for its institutions rather than for its military might and the fear generated by its secret organizations.
Is that too much to ask?
Appearently yes, at least from a dictator's point of view. Gotta remember Bob, these people do not enjoy the same freedom of thought you and I take for granted.
Same freedom of thought, What is that by the way Ren? Because I lived in the United States all my life and our freedom of thought is what the corporations want you to buy and think. That's not freedom to me, more like economic slavery. Go to work, pay your bills, then die, buy this, buy that, because you need it mentality. Now we even have police officers not serving their communities off of "to protect and to serve" they are pulling people over all in the interest of "Making that all mighty dollar"
Chris try living in Russia and ten come back to me fool.
Chris, you forgot taxes.
Putin is absolutely right. We call it "American exceptionalism" and "manifest destiny." We are God's "chosen people" and world dominance is our entitlement. That is how all empires destroy themselves.
Except Putin is quite a tyrant, from what I can tell.
But yeah, America needs to quit trying to be "exceptional". Keep going and Americans will be "exceptionally bad" due to widespread domestic poverty and an insistence on meddling in other people's affairs. Do you really want to go around pissing people off when your own back yard is on fire?
It he was not so corrupt, rich from his corruption, and wanting things his way, I might believe him about Washington wanting vassals. Why they are only corrupt, rich from their corruption, and want things done their way. Oh wait, they are cut from the same cloth. Isn't life full of surprises?
It's been said that our countries common sense of purpose ended when the Berlin wall went down. Our common enemy died along with the wall. Communism was gone, and all was well in the world. Well, with no common enemy, we needed to invent some other enemy and it would seem that we came up with Dems vs Reps. We have developed such vitriol against some unseen political party that it tears us apart. Maybe Putin is trying to bring back a common enemy to Russia to unite the country?
Dear Lord,
Please Bless Putin in this trying time of political turmoil.
I know he is probably a Muslim like Obama, But i know in my heart that a Republican Muslim is better than any Liberal one. For this reason, I'm certain that he will make a perfect Republican Candidate. And Much better than the fake Christian Romney.
Putin 2012
Amen
We do not seek vassals or allies, we seek your assimilation. Resistance is futile.
Says the Borg..... HA bet ya thought I did not know........Loquitus lives......
We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own.
Yes, Vladimir Putin is quite correct when he essentially says that the United States needs to stop usurping what is properly the role of the United Nations, and no one should know this better than the people of the United States. Prime Minister Putin is potentially doing the U.S. a favor by saying this, and rather than taking offense we need to rise to the occasion by moving to create a new democratic United Nations world government institution, complete with World Constitution and elected world legislature and elected world executive body, to take the place of the present day badly failing United Nations world organization. I sincerely hope we are not going to wait until another world war has eventually occurred to finally improve our international system of government, the way that we waited until after World War II to finally replace the badly failing and out of date League of Nations. If we do, it will likely be too late form mankind on this Earth for a number of critical reasons. - Rick Carter
Correction: "If we do, it will likely be too late FOR mankind on this Earth for a number of critical reasons." - Rick Carter
Mr. Putin has his countries best interest at heart, that is more than this country can say about anyone on government, at least in the higher echelons.
We could use a man like Mr. Putin. But that is unlikely to happen because the powers to be will never allow it.
Even our media tries to (however subtly) manipulate the already ignorant. The caption in this stories picture reads " ...carefully stage-managed.....". That suggests to those of you who use "duh" frequently in your vocabulary that it's a controlled, perhaps fake event.
Well, what do you think happens at any "event" hosted by a tv station/channel here in the good old US ?
Yes, it's managed, they all are, that's necessary and regular practice.
Wake up.
LOL . . . "We could use a man like Mr. Putin" . . . . . . WHAT!?!?!
OMG . . . The man is linked to the Russian Mafia and cold war KGB. Are you insane!
Even his own people are beginning to rise up against him.
You're just the type of uninformed person using plenty of 'duh's" while talking I was referring to.
So, Alfons defense of Putin is "your stupid."
Putin was right, it really doesn't matter if the people know the plan or not. Just change the subject by claiming its all US propaganda. Once again tring to dictate to the world by controlling Russian politic's.
Remember his pre-election warning that some no name outside 'vassal lover' would try to interfer. Thats why he had stuffed the ballot boxes. To counter any outside interference and make sure everything went along just like the people told him they wanted when he first held the grand puppetiers job.
You have to give him credit though, he doesn't lie to the people to win!
Well, he has a point. We don't like it when our allies disagree with or disobey us. We expect them to allow us to build airbases and move our troops in their territory, but we'd never allow them to do the same.
Putin needs to back the f**k down. 'America needs vassals, not allies.' And Russia needs subordinates, slaves, and permeated ignorance through vast swaths of its nation. Really Putin? Russia needs journalists showing up dead, politically motivated assassinations, bullocksed elections, it needs to have a negative population growth, it needs its rampant alcoholism problem, it needs its atrocious example of a healthcare system. Here's a news flash, ass-wipe, why dont you turn those same critical words and apply them to your own nation? Looking in the mirror is scary as @!$%# when a monster is staring back at you isnt it? Good for the Russian people for standing up to this goon, I wish them the best of luck.
Interesting: Republicans accuse Obama of being an "appeaser"; Putin says the US is a bully. I guess it just depends on your perspective...
Remember the line from Obiwan, "Luke you will find many things are only true from a certain point of view".
Putin is a strong dude...and seems very smart...unlike some of our politicians who look like donuts and are dumber then rocks.
If he wasn't an alcoholic, I'd probably be worried.
why is it that the US press is so concerned about the voting in other country's, and when they go to the polls there needs to be international observers, and the US has some of the dirtist tricks going to sway elections and the US press has little too say about it!
I hope those protesters don't gain too much steam or Putin might just start a war just for political gain.... sound familiar?
Putin needs to unite his country against a common enemy, and that's the U.S. The next step will be to convince the Russian people of the need to eliminate the American threat, then everything will be fine. Putin figures it almost worked once, but the guy that tried that didn't have nukes.
Isn't it great that ol' obama dropped to his knees and pushed Putin's "reset" button. Yep relations are definitely better now under obama. LOL
Nice move. Why face your own issues when you can just point at America and redirect the rage. It's going to be so much fun when China becomes the world's scape goat instead of us.
Putin? He's a gangster who made it to the top of the heap: politics. Cameras? They're a tool- and just like guns, it's the person using them who determines if they're good or bad. For example: where's all the security camera video of the aircraft that struck the Pentagon? Several businesses had cameras facing that way. All of it was confiscated, none of it was ever released- when one frame could have settled the whole debate instantaneously. Isn't that peculiar....
Giving Putin the ability to discern how people voted? That's a remarkably bad idea. Putin is trying to reinvent a plutocracy in Russia- just as certain elements of the right have successfully reinvented it here. I suppose you can't really blame him for wanting what they have...
Cameras are already so ubiquitous in most cities that on average eight hours of coverage are available out of every 24 lived. Anyone craving fifteen minutes of fame has achieved far more than they ever could have imagined- or wanted.
Vladimir, not only is the world getting tired of Washington's SH-IT the citizens of the once great U.S.A. are also!
That would be why the Senate passed a little addendum to the military budget recently- making it possible to take any "terrorist"- a term now defined by convenience, not conviction- and lock them up without trial, representation, or publicity- indefinitely.
Formerly, they couldn't be American citizens- who were protected by Article Three, Section Three of the same Constitution all elected officials swear to defend. That protection is now gone. As once declaimed in an old cartoon strip I used to follow: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."
FeO2 Dreams
You're right: We (our political leaders) have become our (the American people's) own worst enemies.
I cant believe no one has called this man out a long time ago. A vassal would be beneficial to the country in question. The United States has not benefitted from any of these military endeavors. Who, you ask has benefitted from this..... try Russia and China. China more than Russia for oil contracts from Iraq, and mineral wealth from Afghanistan. Not to mention the massive loans that'll be paid back with interest. Russia from the sales of weaponry that gets filtered down to the insurgents in both countries. Russia also is feeding off an increasingly paranoid Iran and Pakistan, buying weaponry to protect themselves from the evil American Empire aggressors. All the while Putin is rigging an election stirring the pot of anti-americanism. Putin is nothing but a salesman trying to sell fear.Are you buying it. Kinda like our supposedly privatised media. You wouldn't have anything to fear these days if you weren't killing your own "subjects" by the truckload, or harboring international terrorists, as precedent would show.