Πηγή: Washington Post
By Will Englund and Kathy Lally
Sep. 24 2011
MOSCOW – Russian President Dmitry A. Medvedev said Saturday he will step aside after one term as president, and called on the ruling United Russia party to endorse Vladimir V. Putin for the post.
That makes it almost certain that Putin will return to the presidency, because United Russia, which he built, has a stranglehold on the country’s politics. Medvedev said he intends to continue to work in the government, with a focus on modernization and anti-corruption efforts.
Medvedev, who became president in 2008 when Putin had to leave the office because of term limits, always has been seen as Putin’s protégé. Putin became prime minister, and has continued to hold the reins of power here.
At Saturday’s United Russia congress, Putin called on Medvedev to lead the list of party candidates in December’s parliamentary elections. Medvedev accepted, then said he couldn’t do that and remain as president as well. His term expires in March.
Then Medvedev called on the party to back Putin for the presidency. His suggestion was met with a prolonged standing ovation.
“This applause spares me the need to explain what experience and authority Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin possesses,” Medvedev said. He walked off the podium to join Putin in the audience; they stood together, beaming, while the audience at the indoor Luzhniki Stadium cheered and applauded.
Medvedev, 46, has been the liberal, progressive face of the Russian government since he took office, with Putin, 58, taking a tougher, more nationalistic, often coarser line. But the two never found themselves in disagreement, at least publicly. Putin said Saturday that they had agreed long ago on what course to pursue at the end of Medvedev’s term.
Putin was former president Boris N. Yeltsin’s choice to succeed him when Yeltsin resigned the presidency in 2000, which began what may turn out to be an unbroken string of presidential successions here without public input. Putin engineered Medvedev’s election in 2008, and there would now seem to be very little chance that anything can stand between him and his return to the president’s office in the Kremlin next year.
United Russia took advantage of it huge majority in parliament to change the constitution, lengthening the presidential term to six years — giving Russia the possibility of a second Putin presidency through 2024, when he’ll turn 72.
Russian elections have not been deemed fair; United Russia has kept tight control over television here, and the vote counting has been murky. United Russia nonetheless has been generally popular, though its support has started to fade recently, according to Russian polls.
Medvedev came to government after serving as chief of Gazprom, the big natural gas giant. He has often spoken out in favor of the rule of law and against corruption in the government, but accomplished very little on either front. His signature project has been a new high technology center called Skolkovo, which is intended to be Russia’s Silicon Valley.
Putin comes from a background in the KGB. His popularity soared a decade ago when he prosecuted the second war in Chechnya with a studied ruthlessness. He portrays himself as an active outdoorsman— fishing, hunting, diving and riding a motorcycle.
Both men are from St. Petersburg. Since 2008 they have been styled the “tandem;” on Saturday Putin said he expects Medvedev to succeed him as the next prime minister. In his earlier stint as president, Putin’s prime ministers tended to be functionaries with little clout or discretion.
The shuffle does not come as a complete surprise. The term limit provision in the constitution doesn’t apply to non-consecutive terms, so it was clear that this decision was Putin’s to make. The thinking in favor of Medvedev’s running for a second term was that he presents a more appealing and liberal face, especially to the rest of the world. Putin’s return to the presidency suggests that there will be little in the way of change or reform in Russian government or politics.
One former prime minister who has turned against Putin, Mikhail Kasyanov, predicted Saturday that the government would collapse if Putin returns to the presidency. “This government’s collapse is predictable and inevitable. This won’t take six or five years or the period of time until the next parliamentary elections,” Kasyanov said, according to the Interfax news agency.
At Saturday’s United Russia congress, Putin called on Medvedev to lead the list of party candidates in December’s parliamentary elections. Medvedev accepted, then said he couldn’t do that and remain as president as well. His term expires in March.
Then Medvedev called on the party to back Putin for the presidency. His suggestion was met with a prolonged standing ovation.
“This applause spares me the need to explain what experience and authority Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin possesses,” Medvedev said. He walked off the podium to join Putin in the audience; they stood together, beaming, while the audience at the indoor Luzhniki Stadium cheered and applauded.
Medvedev, 46, has been the liberal, progressive face of the Russian government since he took office, with Putin, 58, taking a tougher, more nationalistic, often coarser line. But the two never found themselves in disagreement, at least publicly. Putin said Saturday that they had agreed long ago on what course to pursue at the end of Medvedev’s term.
Putin was former president Boris N. Yeltsin’s choice to succeed him when Yeltsin resigned the presidency in 2000, which began what may turn out to be an unbroken string of presidential successions here without public input. Putin engineered Medvedev’s election in 2008, and there would now seem to be very little chance that anything can stand between him and his return to the president’s office in the Kremlin next year.
United Russia took advantage of it huge majority in parliament to change the constitution, lengthening the presidential term to six years — giving Russia the possibility of a second Putin presidency through 2024, when he’ll turn 72.
Russian elections have not been deemed fair; United Russia has kept tight control over television here, and the vote counting has been murky. United Russia nonetheless has been generally popular, though its support has started to fade recently, according to Russian polls.
Medvedev came to government after serving as chief of Gazprom, the big natural gas giant. He has often spoken out in favor of the rule of law and against corruption in the government, but accomplished very little on either front. His signature project has been a new high technology center called Skolkovo, which is intended to be Russia’s Silicon Valley.
Putin comes from a background in the KGB. His popularity soared a decade ago when he prosecuted the second war in Chechnya with a studied ruthlessness. He portrays himself as an active outdoorsman— fishing, hunting, diving and riding a motorcycle.
Both men are from St. Petersburg. Since 2008 they have been styled the “tandem;” on Saturday Putin said he expects Medvedev to succeed him as the next prime minister. In his earlier stint as president, Putin’s prime ministers tended to be functionaries with little clout or discretion.
The shuffle does not come as a complete surprise. The term limit provision in the constitution doesn’t apply to non-consecutive terms, so it was clear that this decision was Putin’s to make. The thinking in favor of Medvedev’s running for a second term was that he presents a more appealing and liberal face, especially to the rest of the world. Putin’s return to the presidency suggests that there will be little in the way of change or reform in Russian government or politics.
One former prime minister who has turned against Putin, Mikhail Kasyanov, predicted Saturday that the government would collapse if Putin returns to the presidency. “This government’s collapse is predictable and inevitable. This won’t take six or five years or the period of time until the next parliamentary elections,” Kasyanov said, according to the Interfax news agency.
No comments:
Post a Comment