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Main page > Products > Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts - The weekly bulletin > Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (23) 711 Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (23) 711May 26 - June 1, 2008 Main political trends of the weekThe trend of increasing the Cabinet’s "weight" in the power system continued last week. In particular, presidential administration head Sergey Naryshkin publicly voiced an idea of the necessity to actually concentrate the legislative initiative right in the government. Moreover, Vladimir Putin’s first trip abroad as prime minister and a possible appointment of Yury Ushakov, former Russian Ambassador to the USA, as deputy chief of the government staff demonstrate the ex-president’s intention to acquire part of foreign policy functions. At the same time Vladimir Putin still counts on retaining the balance of interests between major groups of influence in the government. While the government’s role is almost clear and does not raise questions, the situation with the Security Council has not cleared out yet. The council has been based on decrees rather than laws over the major period of its existence, so its status and influence have depended and still depend on its secretary’s personality and its place in the political layout. Headed by Vladimir Putin and Sergey Ivanov the council was one of the centers of working out strategic decisions, while under former foreign minister Igor Ivanov it turned into a mere sinecure. It is quite possible that in the new power system the council will become a formal ground for developing common policies on security related agencies by Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. At the same time the president is not going to play a ‘technical’ role in the Security Council, which is testified to by its last meeting held without Vladimir Putin. Some uncertainty observed currently in relations inside their ‘tandem’ allows players to maneuver and feel relatively safe even in cases when they violate informal instructions. However, these players are not part of the bureaucratic establishment. A vivid example is another failure of Kurchatov Institute director Mikhail Kovalchuk at the elections to the Russian Academy of Sciences. He was expected to be approved at the general assembly, however this did not happen. Moreover, some lobbyists inside the government managed to revise the already made decisions. In particular, at the end of last week the Federal Fisheries Agency was again made subordinate directly to the PM, not the agriculture minister. Major events May 26 - June 1, 2008
Volume: 15 pages If you are interested to obtain please contact » Elena Kim Other issues: |
Special report:Nord Stream 2 and Ukraine: Costs Should DecideShale Revolution: Myths and RealitiesLiquefied Natural Gas Outlook: Expectations and RealityAnalytical series “The Political compass”:Political power in Russia after presidential electionState Corporations in the Russian EconomyPolitical Results of 2007: Russia on the Eve of Power ShufflePolitical Landscape Ahead of the Parliamentary Election 2007«Centers of influence» in the Russian politicsLeading Russian corporations and the executive power: interaction methodsForecast of political developments after the presidential election in 2008 |
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