Translated material
We have Putin
The renunciation of Pope Benedict XVI, who at first shocked the Catholic world, begins to be perceived a little as an act, unprecedented in honesty and courage. The predecessor of the retired pontiff was amazed at the very idea of “dads in retirement”, but now we know that this is possible: that a person who has an incomparable influence and power over the minds of the flock can voluntarily refuse that many centuries seemed the peak of position and service. That you can exchange the papal throne for voluntary retreat - and nothing, the world does not turn over, and people on St. Peter Square still welcome you as your successor will be welcomed tomorrow: Habemus Papam! We have a dad!
And the Russians have Putin. He will not retire for nothing. Even the Yeltsin combination with the successor seems to be a peak of democracy today-yes, they didn’t give a truly voted in the elections, but nevertheless it was demonstrated that the head of state, who was perceived by both the elite and the subjects only as “King Boris”, can voluntarily leave the Kremlin and live in retirement-this is even stronger than the resignation of Roman pontiff.
However, this was the last king. His successor has been in power for 13 years and is not going anywhere. The neighbors in the Customs Union are also not a mistake: Nazarbayev runs Kazakhstan to infinity, already 23 years old, Lukashenko - 18 years old. The only neighboring country with Russia, in which a democratic transfer of power took place regularly, was Ukraine. But here there were changes in the right direction. It is no coincidence that Viktor Yanukovych’s subjects love a fresh joke that his son Alexander fainted, hearing the news on the radio that his dad had renounced the throne. And in vain! Yanukovych is not going to go anywhere. And Lukashenko is not going to. And Nazarbayev is not going to. They just have nowhere to go.
Dad Benedict can afford a monastery and solitude. Where, in which monastery to hide from his real successor to Putin? If he loses power in connection with a coup in the system, for him this will become a real fiasco. If the system itself collapses, it will be even worse. Therefore, the fate of a slave on galleys is the only thing that Vladimir Vladimirovich can afford. And Nursultan Abishevich. And Alexander Grigoryevich. And Victor Fedorovich.
Of course, you can dream about a safe departure from business, about security guarantees, about the successor of the successor - about everything that at one time secured the first wave of post -Soviet leaders, who decided to resign, the same Yeltsin or the same Kuchma. But the political field is so cleaned that there is simply no one to negotiate with. The opposition is marginalized - and where it still exists, everything is done so that it is not. All post -Soviet leaders know the price of their own associates well: to allow these saints to the real government - they will tear you and your children to the Russian (Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakhstani, unnecessary delete) flag.
Therefore, there can be no question of any real succession. For any of our "dads" there is a single place in which they can feel safe-this is their office, surrounded by layers of security. They cannot afford the monastery - these God -fearing people, if they visit monastic cells, then only in order to find out from the pious inhabitants, which still needs to be done to consolidate their dominion for decades. Therefore, the Vatican, it would seem, frozen for centuries and far from the present, can afford the resignation of dad. And Russia cannot. We have Putin!