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Main page > Products > Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts - The weekly bulletin > Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (10) 698
Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (10) 698
February 25 - March 2, 2008
Elite on a knife edge
Last week saw major political players waiting for the upshot – in general, the elite do not know for sure, how power configuration and government staff will change. As expected, the final stage of the election campaign did not make amendments to the main political trends. The reason for this are both tactical factors that emerged back in fall 2007 and strategic prerequisites, particularly strong consensus between elite and voters. In the mean time, not only the winner Dmitry Medvedev did benefit from the election results. The other participants in the race also successfully achieved their goals.
Life in the government domain was sluggish too. The main players were making moves not to win but just to be formal or as a response to earlier moves of their rivals. Situation in the Ministry of Defense was no difference. Minister Anatoly Serdyukov found himself at risk. First, the suicide of a senior MD official, who was in charge of quartering, may be indirectly linked with a meeting he had a day earlier with the minister. Besides, the deceased was replaced with a Serdyukov’s protégé, a professional entrepreneur. Finally, the signs of generals’ consolidation are becoming more noticeable as they join hands trying to prevent the minister and his team from privatizing the most liquid assets of the Defense Ministry.
It is also noteworthy that low intensity of infighting is caused by another factor – decision of many officials ahead of government dissolution to move to safer positions. In particular, last week the Head of Especial Economic Zones Agency Mikhail Mishustin and Deputy Minister of Culture Pavel Pozhigailo decided to insulate themselves such way.
Major events Feb 25, 2008 - March 2, 2008
| Event | To whose benefit | To whose disadvantage | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
Presidential election | Dmitry Medvedev | Government should be reshuffled within one week after official announcement of election results | |
Vladimir Putin addresses nation | Dmitry Medvedev | The main goal of the address was to encourage voters turnout and will not lead to additional changes | |
Meeting of the National Projects Council Presidium | Dmitry Medvedev | National projects will be transformed into state programs | |
Dmitry Medvedev says a multi-party system must be created in Russia | Gennady Zyuganov | Sergei Mironov | It is possible that the power’s plans to form a unified leftist party will be revised |
The number of directorates and deputy heads of Financial Monitoring Service increased | Oleg Markov | RosFinMonitoring will remain submitted directly to prime minister or will be included into another service | |
The Other Russia refused permission to organize rallies in Moscow on March 3 | Garry Kasparov, Eduard Limonov | Attempts of Kremlin-disloyal opposition leaders to hold unsanctioned rallies will not succeed | |
Minister of Culture proposes anti-pornography bill | Alexander Sokolov | This initiative will not help Sokolov keep minister chair in the next government | |
Deputy Minister of Culture Pavel Pozhigailo steps down | Pavel Pozhigailo | This supports the guess that Alexander Sokolov will not be in the next government | |
Administration of the Special Economic Zones Service is replaced | This measure is technical and will not result in a change of service’s affiliation with power clans | ||
Investigation Committee has finished investigation into the Federal Fund of Compulsory Medical Insurance (FFOMS). | Alexander Bastrykin, Mikhail Zurabov | Sentences of the accused will be relatively soft | |
Leaders of the Democratic Party and Civil Force say rightists must unite | Andrei Bogdanov, Mikhail Barschevskiy | Grigory Yavlinski, Boris Nemtsov, Nikita Belykh | Ambitions of the pro-Kremlin rightist leaders may make the consolidation process complicated |
Valume: 14 pages
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National Energy Security Fund © 2007