The Importance of Russia’s Unimportant Prime Minister
"Elections in 2018 are unlikely to result in a new Russian president, but they could see a new prime minister appointed," writes Mark Galeotti in his analysis published by Business New Europe and reprinted by Moscow Times.
Elections in 2018 are very unlikely to mean a new president for Russia, but they could see a new prime minister appointed.
It is tempting to see this as of little real significance, like a choice of head butler to administer the president’s affairs. However, while the role is essentially to be presidential henchman and scapegoat, it is a role with meaning, and Vladimir Putin’s choice will be both consequential and also a potential indicator of the direction he plans to take in his fourth presidential term.
There is a general assumption that Dmitri Medvedev, the current prime minister, will be replaced next year. He has been a loyal factotum, even to the point of keeping Putin’s throne warm as president-in-name-only in 2008-12, but he has also become something of a liability.
In part this is simply because his role means that every setback and scandal comes to his door.
But it also reflects his own relative weakness as a manager, as well as the savaging this ostensible “Mr Clean” received in a now-notorious online video by anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, highlighting his alleged property deals and mansions.
That said, it may be too soon necessarily to write off “Dimon.”...
You can read the whole article at The Moscow Times or Business New Europe.
Dr Mark Galeotti is the IIR Senior Researcher, the Co-ordinator of the Centre for European Security of the IIR as well as an internationally recognized expert on transnational organized crime, security issues and modern Russia.
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Tomáš Profant