Will Putin Have the Last Laugh?

nt color="#990000" size="-1">Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2002
For almost two-and-a-half hours last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin fielded questions from his citizens on domestic policy, reform, foreign relations, drugs, poverty, and much else besides. The questions were posed by telephone, e-mail and television link-ups from ten locations ranging from Kaliningrad in the west to Vladivostok in the east.

The lively exchange between the people and their President was broadcasted by the state-run ORT and RTR federal TV channels as well as two radio stations. Putin actually answered only 47 questions out of some 500,000 offered, but the impact was remarkable.

Putin chose one question to answer even though it was never actually asked. He was aware, he said, of a plea from Vanya, a seven-year-old boy whose house had burned down. Now, Vanya and his grandmother had to rent a room, but they ran out of money and could not afford even that anymore. "The law does not allow me to help you and your granny," Putin said. "However, the world is full of kind people; they will."

When the good people of the local administration heard the hint they jumped. A couple of days later, RTR showed pictures of Vanya and his granny in their brand new two-bedroom apartment. "It's a real Christmas story!" the anchor enthused. The next morning, Putin said: "There has to be feedback. This way I can feel what is happening in the country."

There's certainly no shortage of feedback, much of it — in true Russian fashion — in the form of black humor. One such joke goes:

• Do you mind anonymous questions, Mr. President?

  The President replies: No, I don't Mr. Sergei Ivanovich Petrov of the town of Kaluga, Garden street, house 10, apartment 4.

Other recent witticisms include:

• Putin receives a delegation of Russian school teachers. "Vladimir Vladimirovich," they plead, "We are totally broke. We don't have any money."

"That's all right," answers the President. "Come in anyway."

• Putin's reform program as presented to the Duma: "Make the people rich and happy. The list of people is enclosed."

This joke originally surfaced in the 1970s:

• Don't think!

  If you still think — don't speak!

  If you still think and speak — don't write!

  If you still think, speak and write — don't sign!

  If you still think, speak, write and sign — don't be surprised!

On the surface, things seem to be going Putin's way: He has a tame parliament; his tax, land and administrative reforms are going ahead; Western leaders have embraced him since Sept. 11 and his own people still give him an approval rating over 70%.

But the jokes — always a reliable barometer of public opinion — are becoming increasingly bitter. And the resurrection of 1970s gags is surely a bad sign