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Putin's final 'dialogue' with Russians?
Russian President Vladimir Putin said little about his future plans during a national Q-&-A Thursday.
By Fred Weir | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the October 19, 2007 edition
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Moscow - It was billed as Vladimir Putin's final "live dialogue" with Russians as Kremlin leader.
For three hours Thursday, a relaxed-looking and – as usual – exceptionally well-briefed Mr. Putin fielded 68 of about 2.5 million questions that poured into his Kremlin office via the Internet, text messages, and live TV feeds, on subjects ranging from skyrocketing food prices to Russia's military buildup and the need to attract more people to live in Siberia's wide-open spaces.
He didn't look or sound like a politician putting the finishing touches to his legacy as he prepares to head into retirement in a few months. In an unrelentingly upbeat, magisterial performance, he stressed his personal, ongoing engagement in economic planning, social policy, and negotiations with foreign leaders. But one subject Putin had surprisingly little to say about was his own future plans, although Moscow political analysts have been discussing little else for weeks. He pledged, as he has in the past, that he will leave office following presidential polls next March and that "another person will be here, in the Kremlin, in 2008."
Earlier this month, Putin astonished observers by announcing that he will run for parliament in December elections, as the head of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, and perhaps be open to taking the prime minister's job after stepping down as president.
He said nothing about that Thursday, but some experts believe the marathon press conference was part of his effort to consolidate personal power as he prepares to alter his formal job description.
"A president getting ready to leave his post shouldn't be engaging in an election campaign," says Vladimir Ryzhkov, an independent liberal deputy of the State Duma. "Putin is aiming to remain the most popular politician in the country, and that will add fresh legitimacy" for whatever step he chooses to take next, he says.
"The Putin era is ending, long live the Putin era," says Irina Khakamada, a leading liberal politician who ran against Putin in the 2004 elections. "Power is already in the hands of one person, and the problem being solved now is how to guarantee the succession of the regime."
Format was like a US YouTube debate
The format of the show, utilized by Putin five times previously, was something like a US YouTube presidential debate, except that there was only one participant and the questions were carefully screened – some say stage-managed – by Kremlin-friendly journalists. As on previous occasions, the emphasis was on Putin as a hands-on problem solver who understands the big picture but also sweats the little details.
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