Putin Dissolves Russian Government
President Names Viktor Zubkov New Prime Minister - Surprise Decision
Russian President Putin accepts resignation of Mikhail Fradkov as Prime Minister and nominates Viktor Zubkov as his replacement. Is Putin preparing for a comeback?
On September 12, 2007, President Vladimir Putin announced the resignation of his long-time Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. According to Russian law, an automatic dissolution of the government is required when a Prime Minister leaves office. Putin followed the announcement by nominating little-known Viktor Zubkov to become the country’s next Prime Minister. The State Duma (lower house of parliament) is expected to vote on the nomination as early as Friday.
Who Is Viktor Zubkov?
Zubkov, 65, has relations with Putin going back to the 1990s, when they both worked in the St. Petersburg city administration. Prior to this surprise announcement, he was minister of the obscure Financial Monitoring Service, a division of the Finance Ministry. “Undoubtedly legendary” is the description Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin uses when referring to to Zubkov’s creation of a system that has successfully investigated and fought money-laundering in the Russian banking system. State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov, head of the pro-Putin United Russia party, notes that Zubkov is practically in charge of the country’s finances.
Reasons for Change
Last week, Western officials received warnings of an imminent shakeup in the Russian leadership. Previous conjecture had been that first deputy prime ministers Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev were the leading contenders to replace Putin as president in the upcoming March elections. Now, experts are wondering how this move affects Ivanov, a former defense minister, and Medvedev, chairman of gas company Gazprom.
Could Putin be setting himself up for future terms as president? Putin’s second and final term, by law, expires next year and he has promised to step down after the March election. Putin may back someone (possibly Zubkov), in the presidential election who will serve only one term in office, effectively keeping the seat warm for Putin’s potential comeback. At 54, Putin is relatively young and may try to wield power from behind the scenes while biding his time for a return in four years.
There is also speculation that Putin wishes to restructure the government to be more favorable to his supporters in the upcoming November legislative elections. In his meeting with Fradkov, Putin said, “We should all reflect now on how to organize the power and management structure in such a way as to best adapt it to the election campaign period and ensure it can prepare the country for the period after the parliamentary election and the presidential election in March 2008.”
References
Chivers, C.J. and Graham Bowley. “Putin Names New Prime Minister.” New York Times. September 12, 2007.
Cook, Bradley. “Putin Names Zubkov Premier, Dissolves Government.” Bloomberg. September 12, 2007.
President of Russia - Official Website
“President Putin Dissolves Russia's Government.” Sofia News Agency. September 12, 2007.
“ Putin, in a surprise, dissolves Russian government.” Associated Press. September 12, 2007.
