Putin aide: Political infighting could destroy Russia
Infighting among top political leaders, rattled by popular uprisings in three ex-Soviet republics, may cause a rift that puts Russia at risk of breaking up, President Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff warned.
Analysts said the rare public comments by Dmitry Medvedev, a powerful member of Putin’s inner circle, appeared to be an attempt to bolster the authority of Putin’s administration.
In an interview published yesterday in the magazine Expert, Medvedev said that infighting among politicians may cause Russia to collapse, leading to “horrible consequences” and making the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union seem like a ”kindergarten party”.
“If we do not manage to consolidate the elite, Russia may disappear as a unified state,” Medvedev was quoted as saying by Expert. “And then everybody will be in trouble, including our immediate and distant neighbours.”
Several political experts said his statements, which were featured prominently on evening newscasts on state-run television, were aimed at portraying the current leadership as the only one capable of effectively governing Russia.
“His message was that ‘We are the Russian authorities, we are Russia’s state interest and if we are forced to go, Russia will disintegrate’,” said Igor Bunin, head of the Centre for Political Technologies, a Moscow think-tank.
Medvedev appeared to be trying to win over people who might potentially support popular uprisings similar to those that toppled long-time rulers in the ex-Soviet republics of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, Bunin said.
Nikolai Petrov, a political analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Centre, said Medvedev was trying to shift attention away from the Kremlin’s unfilled promises - increased economic growth, foremost among them.
“The idea is that we must forget about all the promises that have been made - including the president’s goal of doubling the GDP – and concentrate on preserving what we have,” Petrov said.
Medvedev’s statements were a “scream for help” by a Kremlin weakened by recent embarrassments in foreign and domestic policy, he said – among them in Ukraine, where the Kremlin backed a candidate in elections that were tainted by fraud and eventually led to Western-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko gaining the presidency.
The comments were a call on the political elite both in Moscow and in the regions “to stop political battles and focus on what we have achieved,” Petrov said.
Medvedev also said that terrorism and corruption plaguing Russia may turn the 2008 presidential election into a challenge, especially since Russia “has never had an easy legal transfer of power”, he was quoted as saying.
“Today, serious problems remain that are capable of destabilising the society and leading to a series of social cataclysms: they are terrorism, poverty and crime,” Medvedev said.
Petrov said the comments showed the Kremlin was uncertain about the upcoming election, since post-Soviet Russia has yet to work out a clear mechanism of transferring power.
The constitution bans Putin, now in his second term, from running again and he has repeatedly denied he will. But sceptics worry the Kremlin may use its supporters – who hold a majority in parliament – to keep Putin in power beyond 2008.
