Where would we be without the president?

During a direct line with the population, which, however, was more like a get-together with supporters or an evening of memories and jokes of a beloved boss, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin unexpectedly announced that it was possible to return to gubernatorial elections. But don't rejoice ahead of time! Having severely criticized how and which governors came to power before, relying on criminal groups and using various frauds, Putin proposed the following scheme: parliamentary parties propose gubernatorial candidates to the president, he selects them; if the candidate does not suit him, the party proposes someone else , and only when the candidates pass through the “presidential filter” will they be offered to the population so that the population can make their choice. Well, whoever expected liberalization from President Putin’s third term will get it. However, he is not the president yet, it seems. Or already the president? Did you go through a filter?

Later, a lady from Murmansk who did not introduce herself, who was given the opportunity to ask Putin a question by phone, asked why there is no opposition in Russia and why Mikhail Kasyanov’s People’s Freedom Party is not registered (let us clarify that Kasyanov is only one of the co-chairs of PARNAS). Putin recalled, in particular, the Kommersant-Vlast magazine mentioned during the direct line, where a bulletin with a message to the prime minister was photographed, and noted that this, as well as what he reads on the Internet and in the media, indicates that there is opposition. As for Kasyanov, he did not fail to remember the nickname “Misha - two percent,” and also told how, when Kasyanov was prime minister, then-President Putin was visited by the then Minister of Economic Development German Gref and Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin and said that with this They won’t work as a swindler (Kasyanov). Nevertheless, according to Putin, he allowed his prime minister to finish his term. (Here, forgive me, we have to remind you that Kasyanov was dismissed before the end of Putin’s presidency; this was preceded by his statements condemning the arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky.) Moreover, he said that for the first two years Kasyanov worked well, and then, apparently, he wanted to become president himself and did nothing at all (why did the president put up with him, one wonders?). This rebuke ended with a completely unexpected and somewhat sluggish statement: “We will probably register (the party - EZh). In general, the legislation needs to be changed.” Thanks to the good president... sorry, not the president yet... or already the president... And in general, who decides this?