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Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (41) 782

Politics in Russia: power, lobby, conflicts. Issue No (41) 782

October 05 - 11, 2009

Main tendencies of political week

Last week the domestic political agenda was mainly influenced by media campaigns around the sharpening of the inner elite struggle for resources. Their addressees and participants were top state officials and lower level functionaries. In particular, the trend of attacking the PM personally in the mass media intensified, which was attributed to his birthday. For instance, some liberal mass media sources reported about the alleged refusal of some writers to meet with the PM on his birthday. The Medvedev-vs.-Putin semantic line continued amid some reshuffle in the president’s executive office. Another interesting trend took a clear-cut shape last week – it was claimed that Vladimir Putin repented. According to it, the president’s statements about no return to the past and about privatization of strategic assets testify to the PM’s alleged repentance of policies during his presidency. 

There was quite a good opportunity for a number of political players to fix their ideological positions. Alexander Podrabinek’s letter written in a rather insulting manner towards veterans provided such a possibility. The letter sparked the Nashi movement’s reaction; the liberal public also joined the campaign. Ella Pamfilova, the chair of the presidential council for human rights, first condemned Nashi’s actions but then made a U-turn after high-ranking UR officials denounced her and hinted they could ask the president to dismiss her; some undisclosed official from the presidential administration also disapproved her stance. 

An informational attack against Anatoly Chubais supported by the results of investigation of the incident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya power plant reached its apogee. It is noteworthy that the report was posted on Saturday amid a usual standstill on the media field to create a maximal resonance. Chubais mobilized his supporters only at the beginning of last week but managed to take over the initiative. The campaign finally failed almost right after its beginning, when the president promised to allocate serious funds on nanotechnologies – it became clear that state authorities would give away Chubais under no circumstances. 

Finally, the struggle between law enforcement entities again echoed in the mass media. This tendency may dissatisfy the tandem, because contradictions among power bodies are not expected to be made public in contrast to disputes in the government’s macroeconomic block. Moreover, the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court continued their indirect competition for leading positions in the judicial system.

Major events October 05 - 11, 2009

Event Winning side Defeated side Development Outlooks

Dmitry Medvedev promises about 320bn rubles in investments in nanotechnologies in the next 5 years

Dmitry Medvedev, Anatoly Chubais

Igor Sechin

Chubais’s administrative positions won’t weaken following promulgation of Rostekhnadzor’s report on the Siberian power plant’s incident

Vladimir Putin meets with writers

Vladimir Putin

 

State authorities may establish an award or some monetary prize for writers

Dmitry Medvedev disbands the federal agency for special economic zones

Elvira Nabiullina

 

This decision won’t much influence redistribution of spheres of influence in the economy ministry

Vladimir Gusinsky’s interview, in which he expressed his readiness to return to Russia

Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev

 

The interview may become a starting point of the revision of hopes of some players on soon “de-Putinization” of Russia

Airborne Troops commander Vladimir Shamanov gets reprimand

Anatoly Serdyukov

Vladimir Shamanov

Shamanov will retain his post but will stop opposing ideas of military reforms

Command of the counter-terrorist operation in Chechnya is transferred from MVD to FSB

MVD

FSB

FSB will be additionally criticized for its inability to cope with militants in the republic

Supreme Court chair Vyacheslav Lebedev proposes to abolish the oversight institution at regional courts

Supreme Court

 

The SC’s role will substantially rise, if this initiative is fixed in the legislation

Sergey Abrosimov, deputy head of the main department of the prosecutor general’s office for southern federal district, is detained on suspicion of demanding a bribe

Justice ministry

Prosecutor General’s Office

This incident will damage the image of the prosecutor general’s office as the entity coordinating the anti-graft campaign

Volume: 13 pages


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Other issues:
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Analytical series “The Political compass”:

Political power in Russia after presidential election
State Corporations in the Russian Economy
Political Results of 2007: Russia on the Eve of Power Shuffle
Political Landscape Ahead of the Parliamentary Election 2007
«Centers of influence» in the Russian politics
Leading Russian corporations and the executive power: interaction methods
Forecast of political developments after the presidential election in 2008

All reports for: 2009 , 2008 , 2007

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