FT THREATENS PUTIN WITH REVOLUTION IF HE DOES NOT PRIVATISE RUSSIA

We can count on the FT to threaten Putin with revolution if he doesn't privatise Russia during his third term as President. In a thinly veiled Editorial the FT reminds Putin that he had recognised the need to 'modernise' Russia and cannot rely on the vast natural resources of Russia for much longer. The threat is made in the last paragraph.

Yet Mr Putin is astute enough to know that unless he does accelerate growth and develop a more inclusive and representative political system, discontent could build until it eventually explodes. At Sunday’s opposition protest across the river from the Kremlin, which ended with 400 arrests, there were undoubtedly rabble-rousers spoiling for a fight. But there were also teachers, students and doctors who faced police batons and gas with a quiet courage. Unless we start to see a new Mr Putin, their numbers will only swell.

[source : The paradox of Putin’s third term, FT, 09/05/2012]

The opposition in Russia has been shown to be run directly from the US State Department.

The FT is fond of writing virtually open letters to Putin via its editorials. Last year the FT suggested that Putin not run for President and let Medvedev stay on as President.

Mr Putin cares about his place in history. The best way to safeguard it is not to return as president. Instead, he should provide political support and cover for his younger protégé to become a genuinely powerful reforming leader. The sooner he reveals that choice, the sooner Russia can cast off its jitters and get on with the investment and restructuring it needs

[source : Putin’s choice, FT, 10/04/2011]

And this latest editorial, demanding that Putin open up Russia for more of the economic rape and pillage that occured following the fall of The Berlin Wall, repeats what the FT said earlier this year.

Modernisation requires far more than overhauling Russia’s creaking, resource-dominated economy. It means, above all else, replacing the arbitrary and often corrupt rule of the Kremlin and local bureaucracies with the rule of law, reinforced by the checks and balances of a modern democracy. Russia faces numerous handicaps in making that transition – in its history, its culture, its mind-boggling vastness. But with nominal output per capita topping $13,000 last year, it is at the level where many other countries have achieved it.

Steering the country to this point is, for all the repellent aspects of his system, Mr Putin’s undoubted achievement. “Putin 2.0” must move to the next stage. Russia needs an independent, well-trained judiciary; a functioning, competitive parliament; and free media. These, in turn, could boost protection of property rights and begin to combat corruption. That could encourage foreign investment and help small businesses, outside the extractive industries, to start to flourish. In economic policy, Mr Putin would be well advised to adopt the detailed “Strategy 2020” plan drawn up at his request by experts last year.

[source : Time for Putin 2.0, FT, 15/02/2012]