Deep Purple and Russia's new president
The name's Dmitry"THREE years into his presidency, Vladimir Putin walked across Red Square to join the crowd for Paul McCartney's performance of “Back in the USSR”. The man expected to be his successor this weekend, Dmitry Medvedev, prefers Deep Purple. Three weeks ago the heavy-metal group was summoned to the Kremlin as a farewell present for Mr Medvedev from Gazprom, which he has chaired since 2000.
"His taste for rock, his knowledge of English and his youth, plus the fact that he has never served in the Russian security services, have all earned Mr Medvedev the reputation of being a liberal. His rhetoric of the past few weeks has strengthened that image. “Freedom is better than non-freedom,” in Mr Medvedev's summary of his beliefs. Even more encouraging, he has said this applies to personal and economic freedoms as well as freedom of speech. A key component of the freedom is the rule of law, he said, which had been absent for much of Russian history. His talk was so liberal as to offend some nationalists."His record is more mixed...
"Over the past eight years, the key decisions for both Russia and Gazprom were made by Mr Putin, who has had unprecedented powers, even by Soviet standards. The big problem for Mr Medvedev is that Mr Putin may continue to make decisions after he steps down as Russia's president and becomes Mr Medvedev's prime minister...
"Despite portraits all over Russia showing Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev walking side by side (Mr Putin slightly ahead in his leather jacket), there is a dissonance in their rhetoric. After the past few years of Mr Putin's truculent talk, Mr Medvedev's liberal language may come as a relief. There is hope, if not expectation, among parts of Russia's elite and around the world, that his arrival in the Kremlin will herald a thaw... But Kremlin infighting, already visible, may widen...
"In a new report for the European Council on Foreign Relations, Andrew Wilson of University College London concludes that at first the system will have more control over Mr Medvedev than he will have over the system. After that, who knows? The result of this weekend's election may be certain, but its outcome is not. As one weathered tycoon puts it, despite Mr Putin's wish to keep the status quo, Russia will be a different place in a year's time."
See also:
Russia: From Humble Beginnings, Medvedev Rises To Presidency
Labels: leadership, Russia
posted by Ken Wedding @ 7:20 AM
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