DATE=3/30/2000
TYPE=WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=PRESIDENT PUTIN'S CHALLENGES
NUMBER=6-11754
BYLINE=GEORGE MEEK
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-2702
CONTENT=
NOT VOICED:
INTRO: Russian voters gave a clear mandate in last
Sunday's (3-26) election for Acting Russian President
Vladimir Putin to occupy the presidency. Editorial
writers around the world are looking at the challenges
he will face, and asking if he is capable of the
political and economic miracles that the Russian
people are going to expect of him.
We get a sampling of the editorial views from
______________ in this week's World Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: Vladimir Putin is obviously younger and
healthier than his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin.
Newspapers around the globe are saying he will need
more than this to run his country.
In Tokyo, Asahi has concerns about a possible return
to hard-line rule in Russia.
VOICE: During his election campaign, Mr. Putin
stressed the need to restore law and order, to
create "a dictatorship of the law" and to reform
the country's economy. Russia's priority to
restoring law and order is understandable, but
we are concerned over the possible formation of
an oppressive and authoritarian government by
[Mr.] Putin, a former K-G-B operative who, for
instance, imposed strict control on media
coverage of Russia's recent military operation
into Chechnya. ... Now he must give top priority
to eradicating corruption.
TEXT: In Madrid, El Pais shares the concern about
corruption, and wonders if President Putin can avoid
it.
VOICE: Can [Mr.] Putin put an end to Russia's
chaos? This is what voters in a demoralized
society hoped. ... It now remains to be seen how
the new president will deal with the country's
financial oligarchs. Will he end up dominating
them or allow them to ensnare him in their web
of corruption?
TEXT: Another Spanish daily, El Mundo, is worried
about the same problem.
VOICE: It is doubtful that [Mr.] Putin is
seriously interested in doing away with
corruption and speculation. He owes his rapid
ascent, in large part, to the support of [Mr.]
Yeltsin's entourage, who sought a successor
willing to guarantee their impunity. It is
therefore unlikely that his policies will differ
much from those of his predecessor.
TEXT: Germany's Frankfurter Rundschau also doubts Mr.
Putin's ability to live up to expectations for his
presidency.
VOICE: After the years of a policy which
caricatured terms like democracy and reforms,
[Mr.] Putin's voters simply want better times,
but it is very likely that their hopes will be
disappointed, for [Mr.] Putin is the wrong man
for Russia. ... Russia lacks not only the
culture of openness but also the will to develop
it. Under [Mr.] Putin the mania to keep as much
secret as possible has not decreased but
increased.
TEXT: In Singapore, the Straits Times takes a more
sanguine view of the chances for success of the Putin
administration.
VOICE: [H]ere is a man who can provide
leadership. He does come imbued with a sense of
mission. This is precisely what Russia needs at
this juncture. Many a time has Mr. Putin said
he wants to restore Russia to greatness. The
fretful Americans take this to mean a lurch to
dangerous nationalism, a harking back to a lost
past which dredges up all sorts of prejudices
and hegemonic ambitions. ... If [Mr. Putin] can
merge his vigor and decisiveness with a credible
plan of action to reorganize the economy and
alter the course of morality of the wealthy
business class, Russia stands a chance. ... In
foreign affairs, where Mr. Putin sees Russia in
the global scheme of things could challenge
American notions of omnipotence. This is a
welcome development.
TEXT: That was the view of the Singapore Straits
Times. Toronto's Globe and Mail also gives Mr. Putin
the benefit of the doubt.
VOICE: After Boris Yeltsin, there was nowhere
to go but up. ... As for Mr. Putin's Western
counterparts, they welcome him as the devil they
know. A strong, reasonably predictable
administration in the Kremlin will help the day-
to-day conduct of international affairs. It
will also reduce the chance of a disastrous
misuse of Russia's nuclear arsenal. ...
Repression, intolerance, racism and crony
capitalism ... are all features of present-day
Russia. The new president has much to do, and
much to undo.
TEXT: Finally, Le Monde in Paris says Russia's new
president remains an enigma.
VOICE: Far from the triumph promised by the
polls, the results indicate a certain mistrust
of the population for a secretive man yet to be
revealed. ... Aside from the war in Chechnya, no
one knows what this new president is capable of
doing. ... [Mr.] Putin needs to address the
question of reforms for small business, land
ownership and transparency in foreign
investment. While this would not be democracy
per se, it would already be the opposite of
arbitrary power. [This is] something that is in
no one's interest, not the Russian people nor
the international community.
TEXT: With that view from Le Monde, we conclude this
review of world editorial opinion on the challenges
facing Russia's newly-elected president, Vladimir
Putin.
NEB/GM/WTW
30-Mar-2000 18:17 PM EDT (30-Mar-2000 2317 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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