Translated material
Putin liberals
In the Kremlin
Putin liberals
December 15, 2011 Alexey Makarkin
The significant interview of Alexei Kudrin about the possibility of creating a new liberal party and a statement by Mikhail Prokhorov about participation in the presidential election occurred on the same day. It is clear that this is not an accidental coincidence. It is clear that we are talking about the reaction to the rapid activation of the opposition and the visual growth of the middle class protest - from Monday rally on pure ponds to Saturday on Bolotnaya. But, I think, the main problem is not that.
Back on Thursday, December 8, Prokhorov published an extremely interesting post on his blog. It contained a critic of power, but not all - but those of its representatives who "is responsible for such an organization of the political process and propaganda that absolutely apolitical people came out in the square." In conclusion of the text, an even more transparent call should be written off as the “puppeteers” and “wizards”. It is clear that the wizard is Churov, whom the protesters threatened to send to Azkaban on a Saturday rally. And in September, Prokhorov directly called Surkov a puppeteer.
In addition, Prokhorov considers Medvedev’s advance to the post of speaker of the Duma - in order to make it a “place for discussions” and the center of legislative initiative. However, the current president has already been promised a premier position, and Vladimir Putin did not recall the promises of this. It is also obvious that to lead the government, from a hardware point of view, is much more profitable than presiding at meetings of the lower house of the parliament - moreover, much less managed than the previous composition.
What does Prokhorov say about Putin? Firstly, he notes that "after the last two congresses '' otra '' tandem, there is no more." Thus, Prokhorov states the fact of the restoration of the power hierarchy (it is clear that, led by Putin) six months before the official transfer of power. It is clear that such an interpretation is unprofitable to Medvedev, who would like to preserve the ruling diarchia and after the “castling”. Secondly, the future presidential candidate claims that Putin "is the only one who at least somehow controls this ineffective state machine." And it was Putin, according to Prokhorov, who should hold free presidential elections with the most wide participation of various political forces. Thus, Prokhorov has no special complaints against Putin - on the contrary, he proposes to assign a responsible mission to him.
Now let's turn to Kudrin's interview with Vedomosti. Yesterday, one of the most cited fragments was the phrase that the former Minister of Finance would not call himself and Putin like -minded people. The phrase is really strong, but it should not be removed from the context. If you read the entire paragraph as a whole, it becomes clear that we are talking about their long -known ideological differences in views on the economy, and not about political disagreements. Moreover, Putin in this paragraph looks quite a positive hero. I quote: “Putin has a unique ability to hear arguments to make a decision. This ability was largely a factor in the success of preparing for the crisis and the fight against it. If it were not for his support for creating a stabilization fund, then we would not have the opportunity to pursue anti -crisis policy. ”
Kudrin’s claims to Putin are related only to the fact that he balanced between the various wings of the government (which all Russian premieres did in one form or another) and listened to liberals only in half of the cases, which influenced the effectiveness of decisions. It is unlikely that such a critic can offend the current prime minister. Moreover, in another place, Kudrin emphasized that he continues to respect Putin, despite "disagreements on a number of questions."
Kudrin comments in an interview and a well -known plot with his resignation according to the direct and publicly expressed request of Medvedev. Of course, there are no compliments regarding the current president in the text. The role of Putin in this story, Kudrin responds extremely carefully and correctly: "A certain political situation made him agree with Medvedev’s position." Thus, the former head of the Ministry of Finance has no complaints about Putin - the situation is all to blame. It is clear what: the election campaign began, and to refuse Medvedev in his demand meant to inflict the strongest blow to the positions of “United Russia”, even without it turned out, not too strong.
Thus, a completely clear picture emerges. Both Prokhorov and Kudrin are in a difficult relationship with Medvedev. With Kudrin, everything is clear, with Prokhorov a little more complicated. It was the Presidential Administration, according to Prokhorov himself, organized his displacement from the post of party leader, and this coincided with the decision of the decision to lead United Russia in the elections (it was officially announced a little later, but the agreement between Putin and Medvedev on this issue was clearly reached earlier than the end of September). In these conditions, Prokhorov’s participation in the elections was unprofitable to Medvedev, since the oligarch turned into his opponent. With Putin, neither one nor the other relationship, it seems, did not spoil.
And, apparently, Putin is the main addressee of their messages. In conditions when the management of political processes in Russia undergoes an obvious crisis, they propose the creation of a loyal liberal political force that could not only attract part of the dissatisfied, but also to balance the influence of the airships from the Putin’s environment (Kudrin calls them in his interview - Sechkov, Zubkov, Khristenko). Prokhorov’s nomination for the presidency may be beneficial to Putin. He does not encroach on the Putin electorate, which does not love a large business, but the prime minister can more clearly distance herself from large businesses during the campaign, which will symbolically represent Prokhorov in the elections. As Putin has already shown his distance from the “United Russia” bureaucracy, defiantly scolding her for the division of mandates not in favor of ONF figures.
In this case, the question arises of the future fate of Medvedev. Of course, Prokhorov’s proposal about his movement to the Duma now looks exotic - informal rules of the game require that the terms of the agreement be fulfilled. Of course, one can refer to the result of “United Russia” - but the Russian government itself has publicly recognized it as successful (and it is impossible to bring unofficial assessments in the form of justification). But the “postponed” decision is possible: Medvedev becomes the prime minister, and after some time not only hardware layouts, but also real economic challenges (related to the second wave of the crisis, which Kudrin spoke in the interview with Kudrin) can force the president to change the prime minister. For example, on a liberal technocrat, ready for unpopular solutions - whether it be Kudrin or a “Kudrin” type. And in this case, Medvedev, for example, can take a “delayed” mandate (as Mironov did after the shift from the post of speaker of the upper house) and move to the speaker’s chair. Although, of course, this is not the only scenario of the development of events.
Photos of RIA Novosti
Alexey MakarkinAll rights to materials located on the EJ.ru website are protected in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, including copyright and related rights. With any use of the site and satellite projects, hyperlink (Hyperlink) on EJ.ru is required.