Resurrecting the KGB

A 19 September 2016 Moscow News article “According to Reports, the Kremlin Is Basically Planning to Resurrect the KGB” suggests that the Foreign Intelligence Service and Federal Protection Services will be combined in a new service with similar powers and mandate of the old KGB (“Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti,” in English, Committee for State Security).   As the article suggests, the biggest issue will be financing the new organization.

Elections in the Duma the day prior saw only pro-Kremlin parties elected, with as well the United Russia Party, formerly headed by Vladimir Putin, achieving over 50% of the vote and at last reporting gaining 343 seats out of 450.   94% of the vote was delivered to pro-Kremlin parties, however, the voter turnout was reported less than 60% and may be considerably less.  Voter apathy might be explained by the lack of real alternatives as the Electoral Commission and the Kremlin (read Vladimir Putin) decide which parties can run thus effectively eliminating any real opposition.  The United Russia party was supposed to lose ground according to polls but achieved essentially a landslide victory.

It seems Russia’s ongoing spiral to a form of dictatorship continues unabated.  The economy continues to sputter.

A gloomy article for a gloomy day.