'End of an era' as Putin is booed by Russian crowd

RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin got a taste of Western-style democracy last night when he was booed in public at a mixed martial arts fight. Putin, who is expected to be a shoo-in when he stands in presidential elections next year, had just watched Russian heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko beat American Jeff Monson, when he climbed into the ring to address the crowd.

Putin is himself a black-belt in judo, but as he began to speak, boos rang out from across the arena. The crowd only started to cheer when the Prime Minister called Emelianenko a "real Russian man".

The stadium's director claimed the booing was directed at Monson, according to RIA Novosti. But whatever the truth, the video footage of Putin's apparent humbling has excited the Russian media and analysts.

Anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny wrote on his blog: "This is the end of an era."

Gazeta.ru pointed out, via AFP, that "until now there have never been any displays of dislike of Putin at any public event".

The Financial Times observes that Putin's candidacy for the presidency - after already serving two terms between 2000 and 2008 - is viewed negatively by many Russians who fear it marks the return of a Soviet-style cult of personality to the Kremlin.

People also seem to be tiring of Putin's publicity stunts. This summer, the prime minister was filmed diving in the Black Sea, where he 'discovered' some Greek artefacts. His spokesman was later forced to admit that the find was a set-up.

While Putin's popularity is slipping, he will still almost certainly win the presidential election. However, a recent poll for the Levada Centre showed that in the space of a week last month, the proportion of people saying they will vote for Putin's United Russia party in December’s parliamentary elections fell from 60 to 51 per cent. ·