26 March 2004 03:25
Putin Cuts Back Presidential Staff
President Vladimir Putin has approved radical cuts to his staff, living up to his promise to announce changes in the
presidential administration within 10 days after the election.
Major changes include the reduction of the number of deputies to the president's chief of staff from eight to
two and the complete disbanding of the presidential administration's economic department.
The decisions were announced Thursday in Sochi, where Putin is attending the Congress of the Peoples of the
Caucasus.
According to the new scheme, the remaining two deputies to Presidential Chief of Staff Dmitry Medvedev are Igor
Sechin and Vladislav Surkov. Both were very influential players in the previous administration.
With the two deputies seen as coming from opposing political clans, analysts said the decision to keep them on an
equal footing is a sign that Putin has been forced to compromise.
The move shows that the Kremlin is finally ready to entrust the Cabinet with handling the economy and that the
presidential team is not a monolith, analysts said Thursday.
Sechin is closely linked to the part of the administration associated with law enforcement agencies and known as the
siloviki.
Surkov was the mastermind behind the Kremlin's strategy for December's State Duma elections, in which the
pro-Putin United Russia party won two-thirds of the seats.
He is known as a crafty political operator with strong ties to the Boris Yeltsin-era powerbrokers known as the
Family.
National television showed Putin discussing the changes with Medvedev.
"For quite a while you and I have discussed the issues of reorganization of the presidential administration. Are
you ready? I am listening," Putin said.
Medvedev replied by saying that the new administration structure had been prepared according to Putin's orders.
The new administration will be "more compact, matching the demands of contemporary reality," he said.
The streamlined presidential administration mirrors the massive restructuring of the government that Putin initiated
when he appointed Mikhail Fradkov prime minister on March 1.
However, Medvedev's six deputies whose positions were cut have promptly been reappointed as presidential
aides.
They are Vladimir Ivanov, Alexander Abramov, Sergei Prikhodko, Dzhakhan Pollyyeva, Igor Shuvalov and Larisa
Brycheva.
Alexei Gromov is keeping the post of presidential spokesman, while Igor Shuvalov will continue to serve as head of
the protocol department.
Medvedev hinted that former Press Minister Mikhail Lesin, who lost his job in the government reshuffle, could also
become a part of Putin's administration.
"We'll find Lesin a good job," Medvedev said, Interfax reported.
The final structure and staff schedule of the revamped presidential administration is expected to be formalized
within a week, Gromov said, according to Interfax.
"The new structure [with Surkov and Sechin serving as deputies] is a sign that Putin has had to compromise in
restructuring both the government and the administration," said Nikolai Petrov, political analyst with the Carnegie
Moscow Center.
"When Mikhail Kasyanov was fired [as prime minister in February] one could have expected that the administration
and the government would be completely merged. This did not happen. Inside of both there are still checks and
balances," he said, adding that the presence of some pluralism within the administration is a good sign.
"This is not a sign of Putin's strength, but a reflection that at the beginning of Putin's second term
his team is not ready to take full control of all processes," Petrov said.
But Petrov warned that the compromise could end up being only a temporary measure.
Another change -- the removal of the president's economic department -- could mean the administration is
focusing on other issues.
"What seems to be significant is the complete removal of the economic department," said Yury Korgunyuk, a
political analyst who heads the Indem think tank.
The department was born early in Yeltsin's term and became particularly important during Yevgeny Primakov's
tenure as prime minister in 1998-99.
"Back then the department was essential to blocking various initiatives of the government, which was not under
the Kremlin's full control," Korgunyuk said.
"There were quite a few stupidities coming from the government that were stopped by this department."
Korgunyuk also pointed out that Putin has probably come to recognize that he cannot rely solely on the siloviki and
needs a group that is more flexible.
"Putin -- since he comes from the same circles -- is well aware of the siloviki's strong and weak points.
They are famous for their corporate loyalty but can be pretty narrow-minded," he said.
Handling a task as complex as maintaining the Duma's allegiance to Putin could be a task much more suited to a
non-silovik like Surkov.
"Siloviki are more prone to apply sheer force, which will lead to just angering everyone," Korgunyuk said.
"Taming the Duma is not as easy as breaking [jailed oil tycoon Mikhail] Khodorkovsky's back."
nEach government minister will have only two deputies, Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said Thursday, Itar-Tass
reported.
The decision, he said, was "entirely logical," bearing in mind "the task of the government to jointly
coordinate work at all levels of federal executive power."
Fradkov made the announcement at a Cabinet meeting, according to his press secretary, Alexander Zarov, the news
service reported.
"The minister will thus become a responsible expert in his sphere," Fradkov said.
Staff Writer Catherine Belton contributed to this report.
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[The Moscow Times] |
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