At Presidency’s 11th Hour, Medvedev Proposes Systemic Change
By ELLEN BARRY and MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ
NYT
MOSCOW — It finally happened: President Dmitri A. Medvedev, the man who was supposed to embody the aspirations of young middle-class Russians, has outlined a concrete and substantive agenda for political change. In his last state of the nation speech before leaving office, Mr. Medvedev recommended returning to the direct election of governors, removing officials’ wives and children from the leadership of lucrative corporations, and creating a public television station protected from the Kremlin’s manipulation, among other changes.
If carried out, the proposals would be a step toward dismantling the highly centralized government built over 10 years by his mentor, Vladimir V. Putin.
It is a strange twist that these ideas are being embraced only now, when the Kremlin is under pressure from an upstart protest movement, which has planned another huge demonstration on Saturday. Mr. Medvedev’s proposals come at the tail end of his presidency, long after the capital’s liberals had swallowed their disappointment and given up on the notion that Mr. Putin’s system would be altered.
“If these reforms had been initiated three years ago, this would be a completely different situation,” said the television host Vladimir V. Pozner, who said he had been lobbying for the creation of a public television station for seven years. “It would not be a dangerous situation. But now, people realize these guys are running scared, and they’re talking about this because they’re afraid.”
(More here.)
NYT
MOSCOW — It finally happened: President Dmitri A. Medvedev, the man who was supposed to embody the aspirations of young middle-class Russians, has outlined a concrete and substantive agenda for political change. In his last state of the nation speech before leaving office, Mr. Medvedev recommended returning to the direct election of governors, removing officials’ wives and children from the leadership of lucrative corporations, and creating a public television station protected from the Kremlin’s manipulation, among other changes.
If carried out, the proposals would be a step toward dismantling the highly centralized government built over 10 years by his mentor, Vladimir V. Putin.
It is a strange twist that these ideas are being embraced only now, when the Kremlin is under pressure from an upstart protest movement, which has planned another huge demonstration on Saturday. Mr. Medvedev’s proposals come at the tail end of his presidency, long after the capital’s liberals had swallowed their disappointment and given up on the notion that Mr. Putin’s system would be altered.
“If these reforms had been initiated three years ago, this would be a completely different situation,” said the television host Vladimir V. Pozner, who said he had been lobbying for the creation of a public television station for seven years. “It would not be a dangerous situation. But now, people realize these guys are running scared, and they’re talking about this because they’re afraid.”
(More here.)
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