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| Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures as he speaks during his news conference in the Kremlin in Moscow. Putin held the
last annual news conference of his eight-year presidency Thursday. As elections near, Mr. Putin assures Russia of a smooth
transition between rulers. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP |
As elections near, Putin assures Russia of a smooth transition
The Russian president hinted for the first time, however, that the balance of power shift in his favor if he becomes prime minister.
from the February 15, 2008 edition
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"There will have to be a system of balances to allow Putin and Medevedev to work together," says Sergei Mikheyev, director of the Center for Political Technologies, an independent Moscow think tank. "It's a kind of experiment. We've never had a situation like this before, so they don't know themselves whether it will work or not."
Putin offered one hint that the prime minister's role, traditionally that of a subservient technocrat who implements economic and defense policies set by the Kremlin, might be revised once he takes the title. "If voters give credence to Dmitry Medvedev, if he nominates me for prime minister, change will happen – both in the presidential administration and in the government," he said.
Experts say the balance of authority between president and prime minister might be altered without rewriting Russia's Kremlin-centered Constitution. "It's hard to picture Putin taking responsibility, and blame, for all the day-to-day detail that the government currently handles," says Mr. Petrov. "He might become a kind of strategic prime minister, who stands above all that."
The election campaign, from which several tough Kremlin critics were excluded on various legal technicalities, has put Medvedev in a virtual one-horse race against Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov; ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky; and an obscure political newcomer, Andrei Bogdanov. According to a January survey commissioned by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, less than 40 percent of Russians believe the election will be conducted honestly.
But Putin argued that "the election campaign is going quietly and calmly, and [this] tells us that the majority of citizens support the way things are going." And he slammed the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for declining to send a delegation of election monitors under the tough restrictions imposed by Russia. "It's like they're trying to teach us something," Putin complained. "Let them teach their wives how to make borscht instead."
Putin repeated earlier threats that Russia might target its nuclear missiles on countries, including Russia's post-Soviet neighbor Ukraine, that deploy US antiballistic missile systems. And he attacked the United States for backing independence for the former Serbian territory of Kosovo.
"They are telling us that Kosovo is a special case. That is a lie," he said, without indicating how Moscow might react to Kosovo's independence declaration, expected next week. "We should elaborate a common principle for the solution of such problems."
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