Welfare

• It is inevitable that the incumbent president, Vladimir Putin, will win.
• Putin has been in power (whether as president or as prime minister) since 2000.
• In the last presidential election in 2018, the Communist candidate came second to Putin, (12% of the vote compared to Putin’s 77%).

Opposition candidates?

• Some potential candidates who wanted to stand in opposition to Putin – and in specific opposition to the war in Ukraine – have, on dubious bureaucratic grounds, been refused permission to do so.
• But it is a brave candidate who might try and oppose the sitting president in this election.
• In the past, leading opposition figures in Putin’s Russia who stood up to him and who questioned his authority have tended to be dealt with harshly.
• The liberal Boris Nemtsov was killed, for instance, in 2015 outside the Kremlin (supposedly by agents linked to Putin’s FSB).
• And other leading Putin critics such as Alexei Navalny and Mikhail Khodorkovsky have been sent to jail in Siberia.

Putin’s future

• President Alexander Lukashenko was almost unseated by a wave of street protests in the wake of what appeared to be a “sham” election.
• Indeed, Putin himself was given a severe shock in 2011 when the same thing happened in Russia.
• Thousands of protestors came out onto the streets of Moscow and St Petersburg after seemingly fraudulent elections.
• So, despite all the temptations, he needs to keep this forthcoming presidential election as seemingly “free” and fair as possible.

Rod Thornton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• TEMPE, Ariz., Feb. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Economic activity in the services sector expanded in January for the 13th consecutive month as the Services PMI® registered 53.4 percent, say the nation's purchasing and supply executives in the latest Services ISM® Report On Business®.
• The Business Activity Index registered 55.8 percent in January, matching the seasonally adjusted reading of 55.8 percent in December.
• The index returned to expansion — indicating that supplier delivery performance was slower — after three consecutive months in contraction (or 'faster') territory.
• The 10 services industries reporting growth in January — listed in order — are: Health Care & Social Assistance; Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting; Professional, Scientific & Technical Services; Public Administration; Utilities; Accommodation & Food Services; Construction; Other Services; Educational Services; and Management of Companies & Support Services.

• Longmont, CO, Jan. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mobile Citizen, a Voqal project focused on ending the digital divide by offering high-speed, affordable Internet to schools, libraries, nonprofits, and social welfare agencies, today announced that they have surpassed 1100 direct customers using their mobile hotspots and Internet service.
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  Mobile Citizen provides mobile Internet through mobile hotspots.
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• The National Skills Coalition (NSC) released new data spotlighting the demand for digital skills in Michigan’s labor market.
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