Does Russia need strong leadership?

Russia has been having another day of protest against Vladimir Putin with tens of thousands out on the streets of Moscow demonstrating. Opposition leader Yevgenia Chirikova listed the opposition demands as

1. “The resignation of Vladimir Putin
2. The development of a new elections law in parliament
3. The passing of that law by the current parliament
4. The election of a new parliament
5. The new parliament examining and significantly limiting the presidential term of office
6. The new parliament choosing a new presidential elections law and appointing a date of a new presidential election and gubernatorial elections
7. A new parliament”

Clearly if the opposition got their way there would be a large shift in how Russia is run. Or would there? Putin would like us to believe that Russia needs strong leadership, his leadership. The country certainly has a history of very strong leaders from the Tsars like Ivan the Terrible to Peter the Great and Communist dictators Lenin and Stalin. Russia has been most successful (or perhaps has simply seemed most successful) when it has had strong leaders and chaotic when leaders lose control. If the opposition managed to gain control would Russia become more like western democracies or would another strong man simply take power? 

Debatabase debate: http://idebate.org/debatabase/debates/constitutional-governance/house-believes-russia-needs-strong-leadership

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/live-blog-march-of-millions-opposition-protest/460203.html