While Russia has taken a further step towards democracy with the weekend's presidential election, foreign observers have rightly pointed out that real political debate was largely absent in the course of the campaign. This was particularly evident on the main television channels which acted generally as election agents for Mr Putin. Genuinely independent and disinterested journalism was absent from what has become known as the "pro-Kremlin channels."
Another important democratic test which Russia has yet to pass is that in the presidential elections that have taken place since the collapse of communism, power has always remained in the hands of the incumbent. There has been no democratic transfer of power from one political group to another. This factor and the behaviour of the most influential sections of the broadcast media are, of course, strongly linked. The Kremlin has, since communist times, exercised strong control over the two main television channels. In the old days the means of control could not have been more direct. Censors were based in the main media outlets to ensure that the party line was meticulously followed.
Today the situation is more complicated. Media moguls wish to ingratiate themselves with the incoming power structures. Their capacity for sycophancy knows no bounds. It is difficult to know if the imbalance in the election coverage was due principally to the venality of the television stations or to the direct influence of the Kremlin. Russian TV stations, and many newspapers, have an unfortunate history of selling editorial time and space to the highest bidder. When, for example, the furniture company IKEA opened in Moscow recently it was approached by the main TV channels offering favourable coverage in return for hard cash. Even in this climate the appeal by the ORT channel to anti-semitism and homophobia in an attack on the democratic candidate, Mr Grigory Yavlinsky, hit a very low level.
Despite these flaws, Russia has taken a further step down the path to democracy. Mr Putin now has a mandate from his country's electorate and faces large tasks in his attempts to restore pride and a decent standard of living to the people of a once-mighty nation. The ingredients for success exist. Russia is a country of vast natural resources. It has among its population a large group of highly-educated, inventive and intelligent people. Talent abounds in business, industry, the arts and the sciences.
Russia's people provide the true raw material for success. Up to now they have been badly served by their leaders. It remains to be seen if Mr Putin will become the leader the people deserve. A long drawn-out guerrilla war is in prospect in the northern Caucasus where a Russian force the size of the entire British army is battling with rebels in the breakaway region of Chechnya. The conduct of the war was Mr Putin's strong card in the election campaign. Ending the conflict and rebuilding the lives of its casualties should now be his priority.