The only explanation for nominating Viktor Zubkov, on the photo, as the future PM is his links with the president. Zubkov was Putin’s deputy in St. Petersburg City Hall in time when Anatoly Sobchak was the mayor.
Photo: Grigoriy Sobchenko
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Russia’s PM Nomination Puzzles the Word
Abrupt nomination of obscure Viktor Zubkov to replace PM Mikhail Fradkov on the eve of elections in Russia has astonished even the experienced western connoisseurs of the Kremlin’s intrigues.
Anyone, who takes the PM office on the eve of presidential elections in Russia, will have a strong platform to campaign for the president’s post. The next question is whether a low-key placeman of Putin, Viktor Zubkov, is particularily eager and/or able to take the chance.
Anyway, Putin is apparently in no mood to show his cards at least till the year-end. The only reasonable explanation for nominating technocrat Zubkov as the future PM is his links with the president. Zubkov was Putin’s deputy in St. Petersburg City Hall in time when Anatoly Sobchak was the mayor.
According to a few analysts, the president could be building a secure team of mates that will remain faithful during his temporal withdrawal from power. Putin is barred by the constitution from running for presidency for the third time in a row but is well expected to re-emerge already in 2012.
Reuters said Zubkov’s nomination signaled “Putin stuck to his habit of choosing virtually unknown technocrats as prime minister.” Indeed, similar scenario had been played when the president put forward Mikhail Fradkov to lead the cabinet instead of Mikhail Kasyanov.
By nominating Zubkov, Reuters went on, “Putin confounded observers who were expecting the job to go to a heavyweight candidate who would use it as a stepping stone to become president next year.”
The general lack of insider information from the Kremlin is disappointing, but one conclusion could be reached even without the leak. Neither First Deputy PM Sergey Ivanov, who had been considered frontrunner for presidency, nor his counterpart Dmitry Medvedev were picked by the president as the first choice to replace Fradkov as the cabinet’s head.
www.kommersant.com
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