65the cornerstone of the presidential campaign. Putin’s team, however, apparently
does not want to risk his image as being the “guarantor of stability” by raising such
a sensitive issue. That is why the decision on pensions
will not be announced until after the election in the
next political cycle of 2018 – 2024.
The large-scale crisis of the pension system illustrates
the situation that Putin faces before the new election.
At the same time, he has little experience of a public
debate on such an unpopular agenda. Even during the
pre-moderated “direct line” television show in June
this year, Putin avoided a clear answer to the question
about plans to increase the retirement age, leaving the audience concerned about
their prospects. In previous years he also demonstrated a surprising inability to
respond in a sensible way to questions from ordinary Russians. For example, he
said to one man from a remote village in the Far East: “Why do you need cars if
you don’t have roads?” The insensitivity to the needs of Russians makes Putin’s
administration seek a more loyal and less experienced audience.
How Putin meets the digital agePutin has already reached out to two target groups before the official start of
his campaign – parents and their children (including students who will vote for
the first time next year at the age of 18). On the eve of international children’s day
the president met with animators, including the creators of internationally popular
animation films like Smeshariki and Masha and the Bear. The meeting was organ-
ised in order to increase ratings and to start work on targeting these voters. The
idea was developed by political experts inside the Putin administration but was
laughed at by Twitter users.
In fact it was only the beginning of a series of meetings. In June Putin handed
Russian passports out to the most talented 14-year-old students. He then welcomed
school teachers from different regions of Russia to the Kremlin. The president also
declared 2018 – 2027 to be the decade of childhood. In July, Putin took part in a
question and answer session with gifted children at the Sirius educational centre
near Sochi. It was even possible to send him questions via social media, even though
Putin himself is not an active internet user. The meeting was broadcasted by state-
controlled television and most of the topics were far from politics.
These moves were certainly an attempt to show that Putin cares about the future
of the younger generation, including education issues. But it was more important
Putin’s team does not
want to risk his image
as the “guarantor of
stability” by raising
sensitive social issues
like pensions.Putin and his monsters, Artem Filatov Opinion & Analysis