The Socialist 4 March 2008

No pay freeze: Unite for a living wage

Unite for a living wage

Greenwich workers score victory against single status

Angry civil servants strike over pay

Thousands protest at threats to hospital

Rewarded for zeal at cuts

Derby health workers

Fight for a woman's right to choose

DEMONSTRATE

$3 trillion Iraq war

Sheffield activists fight militarism

Walthamstow 'RAPpers' against toxic incinerators

Housing association collapses

Meet Brown's new finance expert

Fans blow whistle on Game 39

Campaign to Defeat Fees

Swansea - no sign of Griffin!

Turkey's invasion destabilising region

Russian election

EU war with super-rich?

Pensions under attack

Unison witch-hunt: Members bite back

Teachers must reject real pay cuts

Greenwich workers fight attacks

Socialist Party member stands for Unite (T&G) general executive

Previous issues, etc

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Russian election

IN A completely anticipated result, Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, was elected Russia's president with a 'landslide' vote last Sunday. Medvedev won 70% of the vote with his nearest challenger Gennady Zyuganov of the 'communist' party securing 18%.

Putin's regime went to great lengths to ensure the result. Medvedev's main opponent, the former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov, was ruled out of the contest. Putin's man also enjoyed a near monopoly of TV coverage and celebrity endorsements. The heads of state institutions, factory bosses, etc, 'encouraged' workers to vote for Medvedev.

Putin, having been constitutionally prevented from standing for a third term, will now become prime minister, effectively continuing to run Russia with Medvedev as a proxy.

Putin boasts that he has brought stability and prosperity and restored Russia's national pride after the president Yeltsin years - in which the restoration of capitalism spelt disaster for most people's living standards as industry collapsed, culminating in the economic meltdown of 1998.

However, while a pro-Putin billionaire oligarchy has benefitted from the country's recovery, this upswing has bypassed most Russians.

More material on Russia will appear on www.socialistworld.net

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Unite for a living wage