Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (39) 780

September 21 - 27, 2009

Main tendencies of political week

Discussion of Dmitry Medvedev’s initiatives promulgated in his policy speeches was the major domestic policy event last week. Adherents of the anti-Putin coalition became more active interpreting the president’s words as “latent challenge to Putin’s system” and the power vertical in particular. According to their logic, the political system is still functioning but its economic basis is undermined already; this is why it is necessary to launch political liberalization (a new perestroika). However, at the same time voices of the disappointed are becoming more distinct – despite the president’s alleged calls, there will be no liberalization, as there is no demand for it neither in the Establishment nor in the public.

Inner elite conflicts sharpened in early autumn, which was indirectly reflected in the mass media. Thus, after a short break echoes of inner elite conflicts started penetrating into the media field. However, there were no direct clashes like between the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Investigation Committee in 2007-2008.

Meanwhile, informational pressure on the tandem rose noticeably. Its critics became more convinced that this would be quite a capable body until 2012. Thus, it can be split only during the presidential elections. Liberal mass media sources started promoting Igor Yurgens’s thesis, who says that in 2012 there should be no single candidate but there should be open and transparent competition between Putin and Medvedev, or in other words – an open conflict between the tandem representatives.

Finally, last week the composition of the “presidential third” of the Public Chamber was announced. It showed that Dmitry Medvedev had confirmed the course of “development through succession”. On one side, the composition of the Chamber was substantially refreshed, although some prominent figures were reappointed. On the other side, representatives of marginal groups, e.g. the non-systemic opposition, were not included into it. At the same time, the Public Chamber still has members who have become symbols of an informal pact on cooperation between the moderate part of the community of human rights activists and state authorities – Alla Gerber and Alexander Brod.

Major events September 21, 2009 - September 27, 2009

Volume: 14 pages