MOSCOW — Looking ahead to an era of uncertainty and economic troubles, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev told Russia on Saturday that they intend to swap jobs, putting the country on an authoritarian path for years to come.
In theory, the switch requires voters’ approval next March, but in practice not much stands in the way, with opposition parties hobbled and Putin’s party dominant.
The move will put Putin back in the presidency after a four-year absence. The two six-year terms he would be allowed under the constitution would take him to 2024, when he will turn 72. Always the stronger of the two, Putin saw the weak Medvedev he nurtured as not up to the job of guiding Russia through a difficult stretch.
“Putin understands that the country will not be going through very easy times,” said Dmitry Oreshkin, an independent political analyst. “Tough decisions will be necessary, so he decided to take over this job.”
Putin sees himself as the indispensable man, but his return to the presidency will be unlikely to change Russia’s essential approach here or abroad — because he has always been in charge. It may send a signal to bureaucrats across the country that the liberal niceties no longer need to be given notice. But more than anything, it is a commitment to preserving as much of the status quo — corrupt, crony politics — as possible.
Putin’s return was widely expected, though it deeply disappointed those who have hoped against hope for a more democratic Russia.
As prime minister, Medvedev said Saturday, he would continue to press for a liberalization of the country. But analysts predict that will amount to nothing more than the gloss he has spread as president.
Putin has always struck a more nationalist and pugilistic tone than Medvedev, and that may continue, but the substance of Russian foreign policy is unlikely to be much changed, analysts say.
Russian leaders have been acutely aware since 2008 that their country is inextricably linked to the rest of the world, economically. Now those links are once more threatening trouble at home. The result is that Russian foreign policy, which strives to find an independent niche between East and West, between China and the United States, will likely take a back seat to domestic issues as crumbling oil prices cut into the revenue of the Russian state.
For a certain segment of the liberal population — those who had clung to the idea of Medvedev as a force for progress — 12 more years of Putin has provoked talk of leaving their country forever. For most Russians, who tuned out politics long ago, it won’t mean much. For the rest of the world, it’s a sign that Russia’s “soft authoritarian” government will continue.
The news came at Saturday’s congress of the ruling United Russia party, a Putin creation. When Medvedev announced that he wasn’t going to run for reelection in March, and asked the delegates to endorse Putin, the crowd at the Luzhniki covered stadium erupted into cheers.
“This applause spares me the need to explain what experience and authority Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin possesses,” Medvedev said.
The Post Most: WorldMost-viewed stories, videos and galleries int he past two hours
Our Correspondents on Twitter
Loading...
Comments