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Dmitry Medvedev took the oath
Dmitry Medvedev yesterday became the third president of independent Russia. At a ceremony in the Kremlin, he took the presidential oath and then signed the first decrees. Some of them are of a formal nature (in particular, in connection with the resignation of the government, he instructed the old cabinet of ministers to continue working until a new one is formed), some are political. In addition, Mr. Medvedev sent a proposal to the State Duma to appoint Vladimir Putin as prime minister. As you know, voting will take place today.Yesterday afternoon, without a doubt, became the most important moment in his life for Dmitry Medvedev. “You understand how deeply I feel now,” he said after taking the presidential oath, addressing the participants in the inauguration ceremony and all Russians. And of course, few people understood this. And most likely, only one person understood - Vladimir Putin, who had just ceased to be the President of Russia. But his face was impenetrable as Mr Medvedev spoke. Perhaps he was recalling the words that he himself had spoken at similar ceremonies four and eight years ago.
A speech on the occasion of the inauguration of the president is a special genre. Election promises have already been distributed, policy statements have already been made, is it necessary to promise anything else? But the presidential oath contains only 33 words, and, having vowed to “serve the people faithfully,” the new head of state declares how he understands that service. It is not surprising, therefore, that Dmitry Medvedev himself worked on the draft speech prepared in his office, and, as Vremya Novostey’s source in the Kremlin says, he is the author of all the key accents and formulations.
Medvedev said that human rights and freedoms “are recognized as the highest value in our society, and it is they that determine the meaning and content of all state activities.” What he himself considers his most important task is “the further development of civil and economic freedoms, the creation of new, broadest opportunities for self-realization of citizens - citizens who are free and responsible for both their personal success and the prosperity of the entire country.” He admitted: “I am fully aware of how much remains to be done - to ensure that the state is truly fair and caring towards citizens, to ensure the highest standards of living, so that as many people as possible can consider themselves to be in the middle class, can get a good education and quality healthcare services.”
Medvedev also did not remain silent about the role of law and legal nihilism in Russia - his “signature” topic. On the contrary, he emphasized that he attaches special attention to the “fundamental role of law on which both our state and our civil society are based.” “We must achieve true respect for the law and overcome the legal nihilism that seriously hinders modern development,” he said. -- The maturity and effectiveness of the legal system is an important condition for the development of the economy and social sphere, support for entrepreneurship and the fight against corruption. But to no less an extent they serve to strengthen Russia’s role in the world community, promote its openness to the world and constructive, equal dialogue with other peoples.”
Like Vladimir Putin, who often referred to the sad experience of the turbulent 1990s for Russia, the new president also referred to the experience of the past. But this was already Putin’s experience of the successful 2000s: “Over the past eight years, a powerful foundation has been created for long-term development, for simply decades of free and stable development. And we must make the most of this unique chance so that Russia becomes one of the best countries in the world, the best for a comfortable, confident and safe life for our people: this is our strategy, and this is the guideline for the years ahead.”
In the evening, already speaking at a gala reception in the Kremlin on the occasion of his assumption of office, Dmitry Medvedev thanked everyone involved in this event and, above all, about Vladimir Putin. “The trust of voters is not so much my personal success, but first of all the result of the enormous work of our entire team. Eight years ago, she took on the most difficult challenges and achieved impressive changes in modern Russia. I would like to say special words about Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin. He has made a truly historic contribution to the development of our country and is an example of a leader of truly strategic magnitude. I am confident that we will continue to work successfully together - for the benefit of our country, its present and future,” said the new president of the country.
Less than an hour after the end of the inauguration ceremony, the Kremlin began to inform about the first decisions of President Medvedev. First of all, by his decree, he instructed the government to continue to act until the formation of a new cabinet of ministers. Then it became known that the head of state sent a letter to the chairman of the State Duma in which he nominated Vladimir Putin for appointment as head of the cabinet. The next decree was also of an organizational nature - Medvedev instructed employees of the presidential administration, appointed to their positions by decisions of the president, to temporarily perform duties until the corresponding appointments.
The next three decrees are political in nature and were obviously carefully thought out. All of them, by the way, contain specific instructions to the future government - that is, the cabinet of Vladimir Putin.
Dmitry Medvedev set the task “to complete, by May 1, 2010, the provision of housing to those in need of improved housing conditions and those who were registered before March 1, 2005, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, family members of deceased (deceased) disabled people and participants of the Great Patriotic War who have the right to appropriate social support in accordance with the Law “On Veterans”. At the same time, the government is obliged, within two months, to develop and submit to the Duma a bill providing for the provision of housing at the expense of the federal budget to everyone affected by the decree, based on the total housing area per person of 22 square meters. meters. Funds for this should be provided in the 2009 federal budget.
Two more decrees, in fact, stem from national projects on housing and education, which the new president himself supervised in the government. One of them provides for the creation of a Federal Fund for Assistance to the Development of Housing Construction (the government is obliged to submit a corresponding bill to the Duma within a month), to which land plots “located within the boundaries of settlements or in territories adjacent to them and being in federal ownership” will be transferred. Federal state institutions and unitary enterprises, the Russian Academy of Sciences, branch academies of sciences and organizations created by them must “share” the land with this fund.
Finally, another of the decrees signed yesterday by Mr. Medvedev provides for “the formation of a network of federal universities - higher educational institutions that provide a high level of the educational process, research and technological developments” (the corresponding bill should also be submitted by the government to the Duma in two months). As you know, two federal universities have already been created - Siberian in Krasnoyarsk and Southern in Rostov-on-Don. The decree states the need to consider the issue of creating the Far Eastern Federal University “and other federal universities” along with the two already created.
After this, the presidential press service announced that Dmitry Medvedev, as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, had been given control of Russia's strategic nuclear forces - the notorious "black suitcase".
The next important steps of President Medvedev should, of course, be decrees on personnel appointments in Putin’s government and his own administration. According to a very high-ranking Vremya Novostey source, even on the evening before the inauguration, the full picture of these appointments still remained “exclusive” to Messrs. Medvedev and Putin. However, appointments will most likely begin this coming Monday.