Apparently, Putin is seeking to extend his political power by either moving to the post of Prime Minister, or by appointing another President who will then 'hand back' the presidency to Putin after a very short period in office. Where is the democracy in this country?! Everywhere, every day, I am seeing a return to the old Soviet ways of thinking. The country is moving backwards and closing its doors, threateningly, to the rest of the world.

 
The newly appointed Prime Minister, Zubkov, vowed to 'tackle the morality of Russia's youth and avoid the idea of entertaining Western politics' as his two main policies. What about the huge gap between rich and poor that is widening every day? And what can be done about the fact that people here can quote dates and recite poetry off by heart, but have no idea how to apply that 'knowledge' to real life and learning because they are still being taught, in most schools, by rote?

What about the serious problems left over from Soviet policies, (such as the fact that many people here are intrinsically incredibly lazy, because under the Soviet system, everyone from a director to a road-sweeper was paid the same, and now people simply want money but are not prepared to work for it. More on this in later blogs...) What about the corruption on the inside? And the fact that police officers are paid between six and ten thousand rubles - a salary equivalent to around $240-400 per month?

And the powers that be wonder why there is corruption amongst the law-enforcers?!

Another term with Putin at the helm may do wonders for Russia's economy, but it is slowly strangling its people.