Russia will go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president with opinion surveys showing incumbent Vladimir Putin is on track to be comfortably re-elected.
A Putin’ victory in the presidential election is not in doubt as his ratings are high and he has the state machinery behind him.
The Russian strongman appeared to accept his success from the start as he refused to debate opponents and left his campaign down to his supporters.
His main opponent opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been banned from standing against Vladimir Putin after being convicted of fraud – charges he says were trumped up.
Many observers claim the election is rigged but that won’t stop Vladimir Putin from holding on to the top title.
The 65-year-old former KGB spy is predicted to pick up the lion’s share of the votes.
Mr Putin’s support fell from 77 percent to a landslide 69 percent since the campaign started but his popularity remains solid.
Despite not even releasing an official policy platform, VTsIOM pollster Valeriy Fyodorov claimed 90 percent of those aware of it agreed with him
He said: “There are several reasons why Putin has such a high rating. There are of course his personal qualities. He is the most trusted (candidate).”
Pavel Grudinin, the millionaire Communist Party candidate, is expected to come in second with seven or eight percent of the vote.
The ultra-nationalist candidate polled at about five per cent while former reality TV show host Ksenia Sobchak is expected to achieve one or two per cent.
However this could be the last time Putin could storm to victory.
The constitution limits the president to two successive terms, obliging him to step down at the end of his mandate – as he did in 2008 after serving two four-year terms.
His mandate will not expire until 2024 but the problem needs immediate attention because the uncertainty about his long-term future is a source of instability in a fractious ruling elite that only he can keep in check.
“The Russian political scene is entering a new phase,” said Gleb Pavlovsky, a former Kremlin adviser who is now critical of the country’s leadership. “Most discussion within the ruling elite focuses not on the next stage of the Putin era but on what will constitute the post-Putin era.”
Vygaudas Usackas, the European Union’s ambassador to Russia until last October, says the stakes are high.
“This is a risky moment for the system,” said Usackas, who is now director of the Institute of Europe at Lithuania’s Kaunas University of Technology.