Only one democrat left

On the eve of the G8 summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a long interview to foreign journalists. Eight journalists were invited to the president: one from each G8 country. Various questions were asked, including, of course, about Russian democracy, a successor and a third term. When asked by a Spiegel journalist whether Putin considers himself a “pure democrat,” the president answered without a shadow of a smile: “Of course, I am an absolute and pure democrat.” And the “real tragedy,” according to Putin, is that “there are simply no others like them in the world.” “There was only one hope for the guys from Ukraine, but they simply completely discredited themselves... After the death of Mahatma Gandhi, there was no one to talk to.” It turned out to be mysterious about the successor: a new version was voiced that “some kind of governor” could become him. In addition, Putin believes that Mironov’s initiative to extend presidential powers is correct, because today’s four years are “a copy of American practice”: “.. Maybe five, maybe seven, but four years, of course, is quite short term".