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Putin names surprise nominee for PM

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-12 22:42

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin chose a little-known government
official to become Russia's new prime minister Wednesday, a surprise move
that set off fevered speculation over whether loyal technocrat Viktor
Zubkov was being groomed to replace Putin next spring.

Viktor Zubkov, head of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, seen in
Moscow, in this Dec. 9, 2004 file photo. President Vladimir Putin
nominated Viktor Zubkov who oversees the fight against money laundering
to become the new prime minister, in a surprise move that will stoke
speculation as to who Putin might tap to succeed him after next year's
presidential elections. [AP]

The move came a few hours after Putin dissolved the Cabinet of his
long-serving prime minister, Mikhail Fradkov, saying he needed to appoint
a government better suited to the election campaign and to "prepare the
country" for life after the elections.

The nomination of Zubkov, who has overseen investigations into suspicious
financial transactions, caught much of the political elite off guard,
which appeared to be Putin's intention.

Most observers said they did not see Zubkov as Putin's successor, but
rather as a caretaker prime minister, perhaps to be replaced closer to
the March presidential vote. Others said they considered his appointment
a signal of Putin's intention to retain control after he leaves the
presidency.

In promoting Zubkov, whose nomination could be approved by the lower
house of parliament as soon as Friday, Putin showed he is still calling
the shots.

The plucking of Zubkov from relative obscurity reminded many Russians of
Putin's own ascension to power, which began when former President Boris
Yeltsin suddenly named him prime minister in August 1999. After the
Kremlin secured control over the lower house of parliament in elections
the following December, Yeltsin again shocked the nation by stepping down
on the last night of the year and naming Putin acting president.

"Here the entire nation is trying to guess who Zubkov is -- a technical
prime minister or something else? It was the same situation with Putin,"
said Boris Nadezhdin, a leader of the liberal Union of Right Forces party.

Some speculated Zubkov would succeed Putin as a caretaker president,
allowing Putin to return in 2012 or sooner. Zubkov, who turns 66 on
Saturday, is considerably older than most Russian political leaders.

The country had been expecting Putin to wait until after parliamentary
elections in December to indicate his candidate to run for president,
perhaps by promoting his favorite to prime minister. Russia's two first
deputy prime ministers -- former Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and
Gazprom board chairman Dmitry Medvedev -- had been considered the leading
contenders.

Zubkov had never been mentioned even as a possible dark horse candidate,
although he has been part of Putin's inner circle for many years. He will
replace Fradkov, 57, another technocrat, who also was little-known when
he became prime minister in March 2004.

Zubkov was praised on state television by a succession of Kremlin
loyalists, who described him as an honest, hardworking professional. "He
has worked without making noise or raising dust," Ivanov said.

But Kremlin critics said his personal characteristics are of little
significance.

"It is not a matter of personalities," said Andrei Illarionov, Putin's
former economic adviser who quit in late 2005 after sharply criticizing
Kremlin policy. "It's a matter of the organization. It can be Fradkov,
Zubkov or another -kov, -ov or -ev. It does not matter."

In any case, a Zubkov government is unlikely to bring a sudden change in
policy, as he is an integral part of the team built by Putin since
becoming president nearly eight years ago.

Most Russians fully approve of Putin's presidency, which has brought
stability and relative prosperity, and are expected to vote for whichever
presidential candidate gets Putin's nod.

Sergei Mikheyev, deputy director of the Center for Political
Technologies, said he doubted Zubkov is Putin's chosen successor and said
Wednesday's shake-up has only confused the situation.

"Earlier we thought the successor would be appointed prime minister and
that would be a clear sign of who would be the Kremlin's main candidate,"
he said. "Now apparently there will be a more complex scenario."

Yevgeny Volk, who heads the Heritage Foundation's Moscow office, said
Putin is unlikely to have named his successor Wednesday. The moment Putin
does that, "he immediately becomes a lame duck and he wants to avoid that
until the last possible moment."

Liberal politicians said the main message of Zubkov's nomination is that
Putin is the only source of power in Russia.

"Under the political regime created by Vladimir Putin, everything is
possible, and a completely obscure person can be named defense minister
or prime minister," Nadezhdin said on Ikho Moskvy radio.

"And Putin may say at any moment that he has changed his mind. There is
only one politician in this country: Vladimir Putin."

Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of the Yabloko party, said the nomination
of a person "without a political face" to be prime minister "means that
the president is the only source of power." Furthermore, he said in a
statement, it is "a move toward the effective extension of Vladimir
Putin's rule even after his authority formally ends."

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the United
States is confident it can work with the new prime minister.

In terms of "the development of Russian democracy, we've made known in
public, quite clearly, our views about that, some of our concerns about
it," he said.

"The upcoming elections we hope will take place in a climate that is
free, fair and transparent. That means not just on election day, but in
the run-up to election day. I don't detect that today's events will
affect that one way or the other."

Mar 16, 2008

Chinese School - Putin names surprise nominee for PM

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