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With just over a week until the March 4 presidential elections, outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev is rushing to push through promised reforms amid mounting speculation that he may not get to serve as prime minister under Vladimir Putin.

Medvedev, who is slated to switch places with Putin if the prime minister wins the election, met with members of unregistered opposition parties Monday to discuss a slew of liberalization bills he is submitting to the State Duma ­ but while he was in a hurry to pass them, he was also careful not to go too far, witnesses said.

"So far there is a clear aim to pass this legislation, these reforms, before his term expires," Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov, who took part in the meeting, told The Moscow News.

The bills include reintroducing direct elections of governors, simplified registration for political parties, and a lower number of signatures needed to register as a presidential candidate. "We offered early elections and postponing these elections, and freeing political prisoners, but he was not ready for such radical measures and evaded the questions," Udaltsov said.

According to reports from the closed door meeting, Medvedev tacitly supported calls to limit the presidency to two terms in office ­ something that would have prevented Putin from getting re-elected. Solidarity leader Boris Nemtsov told Medvedev the presidency should be limited, and Medvedev answered that such a bill should be submitted to the State Duma, Rosbalt reported.

"I wouldn't say Medvedev expressed a clear support for this," Udaltsov said. "He said it was an interesting thought ­ it's hard to say whether he will act on it."

As Medvedev struggled to keep his promises to the opposition, there was a sense that he was acting under pressure, analysts said.

"He's rushing to implement all these promised changes in the political system because he is about to lose his powers," Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a leading sociologist and a United Russia member, told The Moscow News. "And there are contradictions [with Putin], so we may see conflicts between them while Medvedev is [a lame duck] president and Putin is president-elect."

The meeting took place amid unprecedented calls from one of Medvedev's supporters to turn down the prime minister's post.

Putin's allies would "tear him apart," Igor Yurgens, chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Development, told Bloomberg in an interview last week. Yurgens has been a key adviser to Medvedev and last year repeatedly called on Medvedev to run for a second term.

But he explained that there was a difference in running for president and being a prime minister in Putin's government.

"I spoke out for Medvedev to be president, and I am still behind this," Yurgens told The Moscow News. "But he chose a different path. I suggested he become a vice president. Now I'm telling him, it's dangerous. You're taking risks you might not be able to control."

Medvedev, Yurgens suggested, will be too much under Putin's control. "It will not be his program. And then there are his deputies, who are strong figures on their own, with their own programs," Yurgens said.

Yurgens did not rule out that Medvedev could return to the presidency after Putin's third term ­ but only if he declines the post of prime minister. "If he takes this position and becomes the fall guy, there will be no return to the presidency."

Asked about the general response to Medvedev's decision to step aside for Putin, Yurgens said: "It's a pity."

"Everyone has his own fate. We don't know the circumstances under which he made this decision."

Tandem undermined?

According to Kryshtanovskaya, Medvedev doesn't seem to be in a rush to get the prime minister's job. "Based on what was said at the United Russia convention, the plan was to have Medvedev head United Russia and then become a prime minister. But he's not heading the party," she said.

"These processes ­ Medvedev as prime minister and Medvedev as head of United Russia ­ are connected, but there are no signs that he's moving closer to heading the party."

Asked about why some of Medvedev's supporters may be turning away, she said Medvedev had failed to challenge Putin on fundamental issues, but had undermined the tandem by criticizing his mentor on minor, tactical issues.

"People in Russia don't like efficiency or all those other words that are considered important in the West," she said. "They like power and they react to where it lies."

Keywords: Russia, Politics - Russia News - Russia

 

With just over a week until the March 4 presidential elections, outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev is rushing to push through promised reforms amid mounting speculation that he may not get to serve as prime minister under Vladimir Putin.

Medvedev, who is slated to switch places with Putin if the prime minister wins the election, met with members of unregistered opposition parties Monday to discuss a slew of liberalization bills he is submitting to the State Duma ­ but while he was in a hurry to pass them, he was also careful not to go too far, witnesses said.

"So far there is a clear aim to pass this legislation, these reforms, before his term expires," Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov, who took part in the meeting, told The Moscow News.

The bills include reintroducing direct elections of governors, simplified registration for political parties, and a lower number of signatures needed to register as a presidential candidate. "We offered early elections and postponing these elections, and freeing political prisoners, but he was not ready for such radical measures and evaded the questions," Udaltsov said.

According to reports from the closed door meeting, Medvedev tacitly supported calls to limit the presidency to two terms in office ­ something that would have prevented Putin from getting re-elected. Solidarity leader Boris Nemtsov told Medvedev the presidency should be limited, and Medvedev answered that such a bill should be submitted to the State Duma, Rosbalt reported.

"I wouldn't say Medvedev expressed a clear support for this," Udaltsov said. "He said it was an interesting thought ­ it's hard to say whether he will act on it."

As Medvedev struggled to keep his promises to the opposition, there was a sense that he was acting under pressure, analysts said.

"He's rushing to implement all these promised changes in the political system because he is about to lose his powers," Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a leading sociologist and a United Russia member, told The Moscow News. "And there are contradictions [with Putin], so we may see conflicts between them while Medvedev is [a lame duck] president and Putin is president-elect."

The meeting took place amid unprecedented calls from one of Medvedev's supporters to turn down the prime minister's post.

Putin's allies would "tear him apart," Igor Yurgens, chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Development, told Bloomberg in an interview last week. Yurgens has been a key adviser to Medvedev and last year repeatedly called on Medvedev to run for a second term.

But he explained that there was a difference in running for president and being a prime minister in Putin's government.

"I spoke out for Medvedev to be president, and I am still behind this," Yurgens told The Moscow News. "But he chose a different path. I suggested he become a vice president. Now I'm telling him, it's dangerous. You're taking risks you might not be able to control."

Medvedev, Yurgens suggested, will be too much under Putin's control. "It will not be his program. And then there are his deputies, who are strong figures on their own, with their own programs," Yurgens said.

Yurgens did not rule out that Medvedev could return to the presidency after Putin's third term ­ but only if he declines the post of prime minister. "If he takes this position and becomes the fall guy, there will be no return to the presidency."

Asked about the general response to Medvedev's decision to step aside for Putin, Yurgens said: "It's a pity."

"Everyone has his own fate. We don't know the circumstances under which he made this decision."

Tandem undermined?

According to Kryshtanovskaya, Medvedev doesn't seem to be in a rush to get the prime minister's job. "Based on what was said at the United Russia convention, the plan was to have Medvedev head United Russia and then become a prime minister. But he's not heading the party," she said.

"These processes ­ Medvedev as prime minister and Medvedev as head of United Russia ­ are connected, but there are no signs that he's moving closer to heading the party."

Asked about why some of Medvedev's supporters may be turning away, she said Medvedev had failed to challenge Putin on fundamental issues, but had undermined the tandem by criticizing his mentor on minor, tactical issues.

"People in Russia don't like efficiency or all those other words that are considered important in the West," she said. "They like power and they react to where it lies."