In an interview with BBC World News, Carnegie’s Matthew Rojansky argued that Putin still has a generally positive image despite reports of electoral fraud and the relatively weak victory for the United Russia party in the recent Duma elections. As both the chairman and a non-member of United Russia, Putin will likely “seek to disassociate himself somewhat from the United Russia party” when he believes it might help him in his presidential campaign.Rojansky added that Putin has little time to act before the March 2012 presidential elections, but he could still potentially introduce several “big ticket initiatives” such as tax or pension reforms.
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