RUSSIA: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's authority is waning and his return to the Kremlin would reduce prospects for liberal reforms says Igor Yurgens, economic adviser to President Dmitry Medvedev
Record ID:
735222
RUSSIA: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's authority is waning and his return to the Kremlin would reduce prospects for liberal reforms says Igor Yurgens, economic adviser to President Dmitry Medvedev
- Title: RUSSIA: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's authority is waning and his return to the Kremlin would reduce prospects for liberal reforms says Igor Yurgens, economic adviser to President Dmitry Medvedev
- Date: 6th September 2011
- Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SEPTEMBER 5, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF KREMLIN KREMLIN ADVISER IGOR YURGENS SEATED AT DESK CLOSE OF YURGENS SPECTACLES (SOUNDBITE) (English) KREMLIN ADVISER IGOR YURGENS SAYING: " We could have been a very different place if not for his (Medvedev) very energetic policies after the economic crisis, (the) reset with (U.S. President Barack) Obama, (the) reset with NATO, (the) reset with (our) Polish friends, all of those things internally and externally, made us a safer place." CARTOON OF YURGENS ON WALL (SOUNDBITE) (English) KREMLIN ADVISER IGOR YURGENS, SAYING: "In the Russian psyche I think that Putin is probably regarded as a more powerful and influential man but I think his authority is waning, is weakening, as the authority of Medvedev has a potential to grow." YURGENS' WATCH (SOUNDBITE) (English) KREMLIN ADVISER IGOR YURGENS, SAYING: "The way the intelligentsia is attacking the Prime Minister at the moment - through the internet mostly of course, the television is controlled - is something which shows me it is a no-win situation for the Prime Minister. He can probably win the election but he will not win the spirit of the nation."
- Embargoed: 21st September 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Russian Federation
- Country: Russia
- Topics: Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA41J36D0SQU3ED1R400SKLYR1M
- Story Text: Kremlin adviser Igor Yurgens said on Monday (September 5) he was confident Russian President Dmitry Medvedev would seek a new term in a presidential election next March, signalling that a battle is heating up between the two leaders' camps, whose business, political and economic interests are at stake.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was president from 2000 to 2008, helped steer his protege Medvedev into the presidency in 2008 because he was barred by the constitution from a third successive term. He remains Russia's most influential leader under a power-sharing agreement with Medvedev, 45, and is widely expected to have the last say in which of them contests the March election but is keeping the country guessing about which will run.
But Yurgens said Medvedev's policies had been very influential and helped set Russia on its present course.
"We could have been a very different place if not for his (Medvedev) very energetic policies after the economic crisis, (the) reset with (U.S. President Barack) Obama, (the) reset with NATO, (the) reset with (our) Polish friends, all of those things internally and externally, made us a safer place," Yurgens said, speaking in his office near the Kremlin.
Many investors expect Putin to return to the presidency and rule out both of them running next March or standing aside in favour of a third candidate. But Yurgens said he expects Medvedev to stand for a second term.
Opinion polls show Putin is still Russia's most popular politician, and Yurgens said Putin's presidency had brought more stability and improved living standards for Russians on the back of an increase in global oil prices.
But he criticised Putin over the 2003 arrest of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a tycoon who fell out with the Kremlin after showing political ambitions, and regretted how much power lay in the hands of former KGB officers and other security groups.
"In the Russian psyche I think that Putin is probably regarded as a more powerful and influential man but I think his authority is waning, is weakening, as the authority of Medvedev has a potential to grow," said Yurgens, who heads the INSOR think tank of which Medvedev is the patron.
"The way the intelligentsia is attacking the Prime Minister at the moment - through the internet mostly of course, the television is controlled - is something which shows me it is a no-win situation for the Prime Minister. He can probably win the election but he will not win the spirit of the nation," added Yurgens, who runs a Kremlin-sponsored think tank.
Some see more difference between them in style than policy, but others fear stagnation under Putin and regard Medvedev as more likely to carry out tough social and economic reforms and to strengthen democracy.
Yurgens acknowledged that an announcement on who will run for the presidency could come at a congress of Putin's United Russia party on Sept. 23-24 but might wait until after an election to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on Dec. 4.
Medvedev's camp may hope he can outfox Putin by getting his bid in first. Above all, Yurgens said, the two men must not run against each other because this could divide the country.
He said this could lead to a destructive confrontation like the rivalry between Russian leader Boris Yeltsin and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev that divided the Soviet Union as it hurtled towards collapse two decades ago. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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