25 February 2004 03:17
Putin Fires Kasyanov 19 Days Before Vote
President Vladimir Putin suddenly fired Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and his Cabinet on Tuesday, saying he will
appoint a new team that will reflect his vision for Russia in the second term he is all but guaranteed to win.
Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko will serve as acting prime minister until a new prime minister is appointed.
Few expect him to be anything more than an interim figure.
"In accordance with article 117 of the Russian Constitution, I have decided today that the government is to
resign," Putin said, speaking live to the nation in midafternoon on Channel One and Rossia television.
"This decision is not related to any evaluation of the activities of the previous government, which on the whole
I consider satisfactory," Putin said. "This decision was dictated by a desire to outline once again my
position regarding the country's course of development after March 14."
Under the Constitution, the Cabinet is dismissed together with the prime minister, but it is likely that many of the
30 government ministers may be reappointed. In the meantime, they will stay on as acting ministers. The heads of more
than 30 federal agencies and committees, including the Federal Security Service, are unaffected.
The timing for the change of government may have come as a surprise, but the departure of Kasyanov does not. As the
last high-ranking vestige of former President Boris Yeltsin's team, Kasyanov was widely expected to be replaced
after the election as a way for Putin to decisively close the chapter on a previous era.
"Putin couldn't feel himself the full master of the Kremlin with Kasyanov still in place," said Olga
Kryshtanovskaya, a leading sociologist and political observer.
"Putin is trying to prove he's the boss, that he controls the situation and is not on the sidelines,"
said Lilia Shevtsova, an expert on the Russian presidency at the Carnegie Moscow Center. "It sends the message
he's starting his own political regime."
Kasyanov reportedly met with Putin for three hours Monday night and was likely one of the few with advance notice of
his own departure.
Members of the outgoing Cabinet said the decision caught them off guard. They seemed unfazed by the shake-up, though.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who said he got the news from Putin's television address, called the move
"correct, brave and fair." Tax Minister Gennady Bukayev told reporters in televised remarks that Putin
"is leader of the government, it's his right." Deputy Prime Minster Boris Alyoshin, who oversees the
administrative reform project, also said he only learned of Putin's decision on Tuesday.
This is the first time Putin has used his constitutional right to dismiss the government -- something for which
Yeltsin was famous. Of his five prime ministers, only Putin was not fired.
Within two weeks, Putin must send his nominee for prime minister to the State Duma, which has one week to approve or
reject his proposal. With United Russia having control of the Duma, there is little doubt that Putin's nominee will
be approved.
This means that a new government, named by the new prime minister in consultation with Putin, may well be installed
before the country goes to the polls.
Kudrin and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who is seen as a close friend and confidant of the president, have long
been named as the two most likely choices for the next prime minister.
Kryshtanovskaya and Stanislav Belkovsky, of the Center for National Strategy, which is often linked with the security
services elements of Putin's team, the so-called siloviki, both added a third name to the list: Igor Shuvalov, a
deputy head of the Kremlin administration.
Shuvalov, a former chief of staff for Kasyanov who took up the post as the Kremlin point man for economic reforms in
May, "has been meeting with federal officials over the past few months and telling them that he could soon become
prime minister," Belkovsky said. "But you can never tell with Putin. He plays his cards close to his
chest."
Kudrin's appointment would be seen as a victory for the liberal technocrats he represents, while Ivanov's
appointment would be seen as bolstering the siloviki.
Nikolai Petrov at the Carnegie Moscow Center said the timing of Kasyanov's dismissal effectively makes the
election a referendum on Putin's new team. Votes for Putin will be seen as a vote of confidence in his Cabinet.
Igor Bunin, head of the Center for Political Technologies, said Putin had reacted to pressure from lobbies putting
forward their own candidates for prime minister.
"Apparently, the president has decided to cut the Gordian knot in one stroke, making clear to those groups that
'I'll appoint my own prime minister now. Sorry, guys, it'll be my own decision,'" Bunin told
Interfax.
Putin's move came the same day that four of his challengers threatened to drop out of the race to protest a
campaign environment that is heavily tilted in Putin's favor.
The campaign has thrown Putin's commitment to democracy into question, and it is his desire to regain the
support of the more liberally minded segments of society that likely sparked Tuesday's surprise move,
Kryshtanovskaya said.
"If he can raise the profile of democrats in government, then even if he gets 90 percent of the vote, he can
say, 'Look, we have a democratic course.'"
He also needs members of the intelligentsia and the business elite to go out and vote, she said, adding that she did
not exclude that Yabloko party leader Grigory Yavlinsky would be named to the new Cabinet.
Turnout must reach 50 percent for the results of the vote to stand.
Yury Korgunyuk, a political analyst at Indem think tank, also called the firing of the government a PR move to drum
up interest in an election that "has been limp and lagging."
Vyacheslav Nikonov at Fond Politika dismissed the thought that the Kremlin was worried about turnout and said the
change of government reflected a desire to make the election more significant.
"Putin will make the formation of the new Cabinet part of the election debate. It adds an element of
drama," Nikonov said.
Belkovsky also said turnout would be no problem. "People in Russia support winners. They will go and vote for
the winner anyway."
As for Kasyanov's post-government career, speculation has circulated that he may be slated for a top job with
Vneshtorgbank, but his press secretary Tatyana Razbash said, "it's difficult to say what plans he has now. For
now he will rest."
Staff Writer Catherine Belton contributed to this report.
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[The Moscow Times] |
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