Putin Still Holds Power in Russia

In the latest Russian escapade into conflict it has become undeniable who holds the country's reigns of power. As President Medvedev struggled with advisory meetings and security councils it was Vladimir Putin who was the first to address Russian-backed South Ossetians as well as the first to meet with United States President George Bush.

Putin, the former president, served two terms of office from 1999-2007 with phenomenal public support before formally withdrawing and supporting the presidential candidacy of Dmitry Medvedev. The favour was returned when Putin was nominated by Medvedev to become the Prime-Minister. Putin accepted on May 8, 2008.

However, the Russia-Georgia conflict seems to have revealed that Putin holds more power then originally anticipated. The prime-minister was the first to contact the Georgians and South Ossetians on behalf of Russia (through television) and was also the first to confer with US President George Bush at the Beijing Olympics. Upon return to Russia he then immediately visited the conflict area of South Ossetia, where the media has repeatedly shown him as the figure of power.

Political commentator Yulia Latynina said this on the matter in the Yezhednevny Zhurnal:

“For the first time in my life, I was amazed by the mastery with which Putin is able to hold onto power”

Even Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili thinks he is dealing with the wrong person, reportedly saying during a conference call that he had tried to contact both President Putin and Prime-Minister Putin and could not get in contact with either.

And it appears that “the gray cardinal” has found ways to retain power within the Russian Government. Officials such as the Defence and Foreign Ministers now take their orders directly from Putin, rather from the President.

In fact, a July survey of 1 600 people conducted by NGO Levada Analytical Centre, 36 % of Russian citizens believe Putin holds the most power in Russia with just 9% believing Medvedev does. This has changed from the initial poll after the March, 2008 election in which both Putin and Medvedev held approximately 20 % of the vote. Almost half the voters in both surveys revealed they believe the politicians have equal power.

So, what in fact does this all really mean? If the nation of Russia currently run by the President Dmitry Medvedev is still under the control of Vladimir Putin, what can we expect from the new regime? We have already seen Medvedev speak harshly on the Russia-Georgia issue in an attempt to follow Putin’s successful hard line and we can expect to see more of the same shortly. The world will be struggling to find suitable punishment for Russia and naturally the Kremlin will not back down an inch, especially when Western Europe is unwilling to cut bonds with its premier energy supplier.

Thus it seems there will be no end to the previous Russian regime and following the current issue with Georgia, we can expect to see a very testy Russian bear.

President Medvedev and Prime-Minister PutinFo

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds