THE RUSSIAN
DUMA ELECTIONS
December 4, 2011
VLADIMIR PUTIN WELCOMES GEORGE W. BUSH
TO DINNER AT THE PETERHOF PALACE
ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, JULY 2006
AT THE TIME OF THE G-8 SUMMIT
Hosting the G-8 summit in your native land when it is your country's turn in the rotation is one of the perks of being the president (or prime minister or chancellor) of a G-8 member. To Vladimir Putin fell the prize won for Russia by the first Russian president, Boris Yeltsin. Dmitry Medvedev was not so lucky as to have one on his watch. If former president Putin wins next March's election, he will be set for at least six more years in office, and so can look forward to another G-8 hosting stint.
Twelve years ago, in 1999, the Duma elections were taken as a sign of then Prime Minister Putin's potential prowess as a presidential candidate to succeed Boris Yeltsin. Yeltsin resigned in his favor. Putin was duly elected.
The Duma elections held today were likewise looked to for what they said about Putin, though he was not on the ballot. The results so far seem to show a significant drop-off in popularity on the part of United Russia, the party of power, the party officially in power.
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