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WORLD / Europe
New Russian PM?may run for president
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-15 11:36
Russia's surprise choice for new prime minister said yesterday he did not
rule out running for president next year, adding to the uncertainty over
who will replace Vladimir Putin when he steps down.
New Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov holds flowers at the parliament
in Moscow on, September 14, 2007. The lower house of parliament confirmed
Viktor Zubkov as Russia's new prime minister on Friday. Lawmakers in the
parliament voted 381-47 to approve Zubkov for the post. [AP]?
Putin nominated Viktor Zubkov, the little-known head of a money
laundering watchdog, on Wednesday as the new premier in a move that
confounded analysts who had expected a political heavyweight to be chosen.
Most observers predicted Zubkov, a virtual unknown who spent part of his
career running a collective farm, would have a caretaker role while Putin
endorsed a more high-profile figure to take over the Kremlin top job.
Putin gave nothing away when he said he sacked Mikhail Fradkov as prime
minister and nominated Zubkov to ensure stability through a potentially
turbulent election cycle.
"I expect all these changes will lead to the system of government in
Russia functioning without hitches in the election period and after the
election period," Russian television showed Putin saying at a dairy farm
in Belgorod region.
Zubkov, speaking to reporters in parliament where he was meeting
lawmakers, was asked whether he planned to run in an election next March
to choose Putin's successor.
"If I achieve something as prime minister then I do not rule out that
possibility," Zubkov told reporters. The parliament, dominated by Putin
loyalists, is expected to confirm Zubkov's appointment today.
However, an official who did not want to be named, played down the
significance of Zubkov's comment, saying he may have been flustered by
the television cameras.
Zubkov, a 65-year-old who worked alongside Putin in the 1990s in the St
Petersburg City Hall, pledged Cabinet changes.
"The government structure is not ideal," he said. "The administrative
reform has not been very effective. There will be structural changes for
sure."
Several Russian newspapers, citing government sources, said that
liberal-minded Economy Minister German Gref could be the chief casualty
of a Cabinet reshuffle.
The papers said he might be replaced by Andrei Dvorkovich, head of the
economic staff at the presidential administration, or Andrei Kostin, CEO
of state-controlled VTB Bank, which recently floated on the London stock
market.
A spokeswoman for Gref said he was with Putin on a visit to the Belgorod
region south of Moscow and had made no changes to his diary. "We are
working as usual," she said.
Gref has been a standard-bearer for efforts to open up the Russian
economy to private capital, fighting a battle with hawks who favor a
bigger role for state corporations like Gazprom and Rosneft.
Russian media said gaffe-prone Health and Social Affairs Minister Mikhail
Zurabov was also likely to be left out of Zubkov's government.
Most observers had been expecting Putin to name First Deputy Prime
Minister Sergei Ivanov as prime minister as a prelude to Ivanov becoming
president.
The consensus yesterday was that Putin wanted to keep everyone guessing
about the identity of his favored successor and so avoid becoming a lame
duck.
"The president has carried out a very elegant manoeuver: as expected he
has changed the government but he has not created a rival for himself,"
Vedomosti financial daily said.
Some Russian newspapers said Zubkov's background as a financial regulator
gave him access to information about the finances of Russia's elite -
knowledge which could give him political leverage.
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