North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's opponents have even less to say than Putin's. Because most of them are dead. The rest don't want to be.
Kim Jong-un executes two North Korea officials 'using anti-aircraft gun'
Kim has carried out a series of executions since taking power in 2011 after his father’s death as he puts his mark on the leadership of the isolated nuclear-armed nation. The most high profile was the killing three years ago of his uncle and one-time deputy Jang Song Thaek. He had about 50 officials executed in 2014 on charges ranging from graft to watching South Korean soap operas.
Putin’s moves leave Russian opposition with few options
A couple more re Putin's attempts to mute his opposition.
By DARIA LITVINOVAJanuary 19, 2020
SLIDESHOW 1 of 13 President Vladimir Putin attends a wreath laying commemoration ceremony for the 77th anniversary since the Leningrad siege was lifted during the World War Two at the Boundary Stone monument, around 50 kilometers east of St.Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020. (Alexei Danichev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin played it differently this time.
Instead of openly declaring plans to extend his rule like he did in 2011, Putin proposed constitutional amendments to appear to give more power to Russia’s parliament.
Instead of announcing the move as a fait accompli, he said the people should vote and decide.
And then he executed a swift, unexpected reshuffle of Russia’s leadership, putting a low-profile official with no political aims in charge of the government.
Putin announced what many see as a strategy for staying in power well past the end of his term in 2024. And the proposed constitutional reforms that might allow him to remain in charge as prime minister or as head of the State Council didn’t elicit much public outrage.
Neither did the resignation of Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s prime minister, whom Putin quickly replaced with the little-known tax chief, Mikhail Mishustin.
There was a smattering of calls for protest: One opposition supporter urged people to join his one-man picket in front of the Presidential Administration on Saturday, while another called for protesters to turn out against the “constitutional coup” at a Sunday rally in honor of two slain activists.
It was very different from what happened in 2011-2012, when efforts to engineer Putin’s return to the presidency crushed Russian hopes for liberalization and sparked massive protests in Moscow.
In his speech Wednesday, Putin presented his plan to amend the constitution as a way to improve democracy. By suggesting that lawmakers could name prime ministers and Cabinet members, he also curtailed the authority of the president, who currently holds that power.
Putin also said the constitution could specify a greater role for the State Council, an obscure consultative body of regional governors and federal officials, indicating that he might take a leading position there.
He also sought to prioritize the primacy of Russian laws, so that the European Court of Human Rights would no longer have the authority to issue rulings that Moscow opposed.
A nationwide vote has ratified constitutional reforms proposed by Russian president, Vladimir Putin. With a 68% turnout, 78% of those taking part voted in favour of the changes, according to Russia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC).
The vote – which ran from June 25 to July 1 – was originally scheduled for April 22, but was postponed due to the coronavirus crisis.
Crucially for Putin, the package of constitutional changes includes an amendment allowing him to run again for the presidency in 2024 – and stay in power until 2036. But the Kremlin downplayed this particular amendment ahead of the vote, preferring to showcase changes it knew Russians were much more enthusiastic about, including promises of increased state support for citizens.
The result is not surprising. Polling data from both Kremlin-friendly and independent polling agencies suggested a comfortable win for the “yes” vote. In fact, Moscow bookshops started selling a version of the constitution incorporating Putin’s reforms before voting began.
And yet, there were reports of vote fraud, including allegations of ballot stuffing. Officials largely dismissed these reports as fake. At the same time, the head of Russia’s CEC admitted she was worried about steps taken by lower-level regional officials to manipulate turnout figures that might discredit the vote.
Only one region returned a majority “no” vote: the Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Russia’s far north. In Chechnya, by contrast, official statistics say 98% of voters backed the changes.
The leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny, called the official results “fake and a huge lie”. Street protests on the final day of voting were few and small.
Vote counting in Podolsk, outside Moscow, on July 1. Maxim Shipenkov/EPA
Not a real referendum
Putin was not required to call this vote in the first place. National votes are only required for changes to certain chapters of the constitution – but the package of reforms just voted on does not affect these.
Yet Putin insisted on the vote for the legitimacy he hopes it will bring to these changes, as well as the political system more broadly. This is particularly pressing, as his trust and approval ratings have seen notable declines recently.
By contrast, the “nationwide vote” is not mentioned in the constitution – and comes with far fewer strings attached. That provided ample flexibility for the Kremlin to tailor the vote to its own needs, particularly during the pandemic. Because of the unique nature of the vote, Russia’s CEC was even free to publish preliminary results on July 1 before voting finished – something explicitly banned for normal votes, including elections.
A hodgepodge of constitutional changes
Putin first announced his intention to make changes to the constitution in a speech to the national legislature on January 15. One conclusion from this speech was that he planned to transfer power away from the presidency.
But once Putin submitted his constitutional reform bill to Russia’s parliament, the precise opposite appeared to be the case. Putin was creating a mega-presidency on the basis of what is already considered to be a super-presidential system. This impression of a beefed-up presidency was amplified by changes made to the bill during its consideration by the State Duma, the lower chamber of the national legislature.
Beyond the amendments affecting presidential powers, a disparate group of other changes were inserted awkwardly into the constitution. These include a reference to God (in a supposedly secular state), the statement that marriage is a union between a man and a woman, and a ban on detracting from the people’s “defence of the Fatherland”.
Attention will now turn to a range of regional elections on September 13, as well as parliamentary elections currently scheduled for September 2021. These votes pose a much greater challenge for the Kremlin than the constitutional one, particularly because the main Kremlin-backed political party, United Russia, remains deeply unpopular.
Looking further ahead, it’s important to remember that Putin has not committed to running for the presidency in 2024. But altering the constitution so that he has the chance of running gives him the upper hand over elites, who – he said publicly .. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/06/24/putin-wants-you-to-think-hes-not-going-anywhere-2-a70683 – have been too busy worrying about who will succeed him as president.
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