Putin: I’m Staying In Charge Of Russia
MOSCOW (AP) - When Boris Yeltsin left the Kremlin eight years ago, he gave Vladimir Putin the pen he had used to sign important documents and decrees, a gesture symbolizing the transfer of power to Russia’s new president.
When Putin left the Kremlin, he took the pen with him.
Putin, who became prime minister Thursday, has signaled that he intends to remain Russia’s principal leader, at least in the short term—and possibly much longer. He is keeping the trappings of his presidency and many of its powers as well.
It was not always meant to be this way. Putin initially said he intended to hand the full powers of the presidency to his chosen successor and step aside. But as the time drew near, he clearly changed his mind as infighting between rival Kremlin factions spilled into the open, threatening to undermine political stability.
Veterans of the secret services have come to dominate the government under Putin, a 55-year-old former KGB officer. These powerful figures, known as the “siloviki,” have been given leading roles in major businesses—including oil companies and aircraft and automobile manufacturers—that Putin has brought back under state control.
They see Putin as the key to preserving their positions and continued access to financial flows. Some of them opposed Putin’s choice of Dmitry Medvedev, a 42-year-old lawyer, who was inaugurated as president on Wednesday.
Putin may have decided to stay around to keep the peace and protect his protege until he consolidates his position.
Immensely popular and at the height of his powers, Putin appears to want Russians to see him as still in charge and to anticipate his return to the presidency in 2012, which he has not ruled out.
In a fervent 45-minute speech Thursday before parliament, Putin laid out huge ambitions for the economy and boasted that under his leadership Russia “had not just changed but become a different country.” He was approved by a vote of 392-56, with only the Communists opposing him.
Medvedev, by contrast, was a lackluster supporting player, introducing Putin in a bland five-minute address that underlined Putin’s potency.
Putin left the Kremlin on Wednesday, but just moved down the road to the building known as the White House, the government headquarters near the U.S. Embassy. In anticipation of his arrival, the prime minister’s fifth-floor office overlooking the Moscow River has been renovated and its staff greatly expanded. Many of those who served him as president have made the switch, and others are expected to follow.
Putin will continue to travel to work in a motorcade from the same wooded estate in one of Moscow’s most exclusive suburban neighborhoods where he lived as president and which is now his to keep.
While quietly laying the groundwork for expanding the scope of the prime minister’s office, Putin has firmed up his position by becoming chairman of the Kremlin’s dominant political party, which gives him control over parliament and strong leverage over regional leaders.
Members of that party still have Putin’s portrait in their offices.
Putin has said he feels no need to hang the portrait of Russia’s new president in his office in a traditional sign of respect. Other government officials will hang a picture of Medvedev and have to decide whether to take down Putin. Many are expected to hedge their bets by displaying both.
Aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska, whom Forbes magazine calls Russia’s richest man, said recently that it is clear Putin remains in charge. “In Russia, in our culture we need to have a leader,” Deripaska said at a lunch with foreign journalists.
With Putin in control, Deripaska said there is no risk of political instability. “There is no chance for any intrigue. Don’t bet on it,” he said.
Putin and Medvedev, who have worked together since the early 1990s, stress their friendship and full agreement on Russia’s course.
But Putin seems to be taking no chances that Medvedev will turn against him. His party has a 70 percent majority, which gives it the power to change the constitution, block legislation or impeach the president.
As prime minister, Putin will control the budget and oversee gigantic state corporations, including Gazprom, the world’s largest natural gas producer. These corporations, staffed with Putin loyalists, have allowed Russia to reassert its global might.
Both men have said Medvedev will set foreign policy.
Boris Makarenko, an analyst with the Center for Political Technologies, said there will be no need to amend the constitution, which in spelling out the powers of the president and prime minister leaves room for interpretation. “The gray areas will be shared differently than they are now,” he was quoted in Vremya Novostei as saying.
An early signal of the level of Putin’s influence will come when Russia forms a new government. Most members of his team are expected to remain in high posts.
Another important sign will be the TV coverage of Putin and Medvedev on national channels, which are all under Kremlin control and have served as a political bellwether. Medvedev has been given lavish coverage, but Putin remains the main hero of the evening news.
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“When Putin left the Kremlin, he took the pen with him.”
so does Sarko, but compared with Putin, that hasn’t the same symbol, while Putin perenises his inthronisment as Russia personification, Sarko just makes a non elegant gesture… ah those Frenchs, bandit, voyou, chenapan…
uh, the new president isn’t bad looking
May 8th, 2008 at 11:41 amMedvedev is Putin’s stooge. If I were Medvedev, I would feel extremely uncomfortable having my old boss around as Prime Minister, when you know all he is doing is using you as a prop until he can become President again. What good is it being President in name only? He should immediately fire Putin (never should have hired him), and purge out all of his old cronies and replace them with people he can trust.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:09 pmOld Sailor
I am afraid, he can’t because since his beginnings with Putin, he is his groom (or porte-valise we say here)
The boss had decided that he would be no longer the president of the firm
, and chose one of his fidel employees to represent him ; though the boss still stays in tn the concil of surveyance and can replace him any moment
Russia is not ruled as a political entity but more as a firm and it belongs to DA da da daddy
May 8th, 2008 at 12:17 pmA dictatorship (feebly) disguised as a democracy. Makes me appreciate our system. Even with it’s imperfections, we are far better off than most.
May 8th, 2008 at 12:29 pmjeff
it’s a bit exagerated, Putin has the favor of a large majority of Russians, they ow him not to starve anymore, big cities are real occidental cities where you can do whatever you want, he just keeps an eye to the opposition that is too radical, and as a tumor he eradicates it
no comparaison with the south america dictature, african even Egypt
so, if the people there are happy, let them enjoy the joynesses of the capitalism
May 8th, 2008 at 12:37 pmI’m surprised that Jeff was the only one to notice the obvious. Putin has no intention of leaving power and he will use every excuse to gain FULL Control. Mark my words this man is a dictator, and he will REGAIN FULL CONTROL even if that means using a deliberate assignation.
Gog = Putin
May 8th, 2008 at 12:48 pm…”he just keeps an eye to the opposition that is too radical, and as a tumor he eradicates it”
Yeah, but doesn’t your statement qualify it as a dictatorship? A true democracy allows for opposition, even the radical type. They may keep an eye on the radicals but generally do not ‘eradicate’ them unless they become violent. If the people are so happy with him, why the need to suppress anything?
He looks like every other dictator out there to me. The first thing he did when the $$$ started rolling in was to crank up the weapons factories and rattle his saber.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:06 pmLuke, when de Gaulle was in power some of your countrymen said also that France was a dictature
so what is a dictature ?
a country that hasn’t the same rules as yours, though they had their owns since ages, you can’t transform all the earthwide into your model, that would be so boring, even if it happens that we appreciate some of your products and people
May 8th, 2008 at 1:09 pmjeff, yes, I can agree with you, it was my euphemism that expressed there, though it’s the Russians’ business, not ours
May 8th, 2008 at 1:11 pmFranchie,
Dictators are those that actively suppress individual rights and freedoms of expression. An average Russian has no right to be a “Michael Moore” in his country JUST ASK KASPAROV! I thank GOD that we live in a country where brave men and women like my cousin will fight and die for their country so that people like Michael Moore can bash the people that kept his right to do so! A dictatorship is assignation, it is the limiting of Freedoms of speech, it is the tyrannical grip on power, A DICTATOR IS PUTIN FRANCHIE! I’m done with this debate
.. Next Lib please hahaha
May 8th, 2008 at 2:33 pmWell of course you are staying in charge in Russia, Mr. Putty Put KGB agent fu*king commie bastard. Why even do this ruse? Asshole.
May 8th, 2008 at 7:18 pmLuke, but Russia don’t care of having a Mickael Moore, he simply can’t exist there. People just discovered the pleasure of consumerisation, there aren’t fed up, up to now, yeah Putin is a kind of soft dictator, he isn’t a megalomaniac like all those we used to know, but a rational dictator ; Russia needs that kind of leader, otherwise the country become a big mess, it’s so vast ! If you read a bit of their history, you see when the leader hasn’t a strong hand, there are revolts… the Russians are quite nice, but a bit undisciplined (I would say like the Frenchs)
I return your “tournée
May 9th, 2008 at 2:07 amTo Luke:
May 9th, 2008 at 2:25 amYou think that Kasparov represents some considerable part of russian people? You are absolutely wrong. Yes, we have some problems with democracy in Russia, especially because of pro-goverment position of two main national TV channels, which have never critisized the position of goverment. But everyone knows that Kasparov is political whore and he is simply the political project of the West countries. Unfortunately, we can’t use a big part of our oil revenues and keep it in stabilization fund, and pro-goverment propaganda try to convict people that it is best way to use big oil revenues. Our political system now is monotonous, but Kasparov is not our choice. As you can see, he always shout in camera in english, so foreign interests seems to be more significant for him than national.