Stable landmarks

Prime Minister Putin can again move towards the goals of nine years ago

Nine years ago, in August 1999, Vladimir Putin was confirmed as Prime Minister for the first time. Much has changed, but if you take a closer look, not everything - the dollar exchange rate is again less than 25 rubles. (in August 1999 it fluctuated around 24.8), we will fight to increase pensions and living standards, and we will help business by reducing taxes.

After President Boris Yeltsin nominated FSB head Vladimir Putin for the post of head of government on August 9, 1999, Mr. Putin held consultations with leading parliamentary factions. Although parliament was not completely under the control of the president, as it is now, it was also possible to say in advance that the candidate for the post of prime minister was a “passable candidate.” The only difference is that now there was simply no alternative and there could not be, but then the alternative was the dissolution of parliament.

True, even then the consultations turned out to be in a truncated format. Three days before the vote, Mr. Putin met with the LDPR. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who had already entered the political history of Russia at the time of the meeting, while Vladimir Putin had yet to do so, demanded that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation be banned and Lenin’s body buried. However, the liberal democrats limited themselves to this. “Our Home is Russia,” “Yabloko” and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation scheduled a meeting a few hours before the vote on August 16. There was nothing for them to agree on with Mr. Putin: how all these factions would vote was clear in advance.

On the same day, Vladimir Putin gave a speech to the entire meeting, which many then regarded as a policy statement. He began with an excursion into the recent past, namely the financial crisis that erupted on August 17, 1998. The leitmotif of his speech was the promise to return Russians to their pre-crisis standard of living. To achieve this, the government was ready to urgently liquidate all pension arrears, and they promised to increase the pensions themselves in the near future. Businesses were promised tax cuts. Vladimir Putin promised to take up the fight against corruption, ensuring strict control over budget expenditures, which must go strictly for their intended purpose. The candidate for prime minister then also said that the government would take responsibility for food supply for Russians.

The future prime minister grasped the main mood of that time - 1998 was still too close for people to be worried about abstract economic theses and political slogans.

Although much time has passed, history has, at least in part, come full circle. High inflation is back on the agenda, and many have gradually become disillusioned with the government's ability to control rising prices. Slogans for increasing pensions and ensuring food security are relevant again. “It is necessary that there are no beggars in the country,” Prime Minister Putin said nine years ago. He could have uttered these words now. And he would be right.

Yulia MIRONOVA