[Politics] Putin sacks the Russian PM Mr Medvedev and the Russian Parliment resigns

Blue3 · Jan 15, 2020

Russia's government has resigned, hours after President Vladimir Putin proposed sweeping constitutional changes that could prolong his stay in power.
PM Dmitry Medvedev said the president's proposals would significantly change Russia's balance of power.
Mr Putin asked Mr Medvedev to become deputy head of the National Security Council, which is chaired by Mr Putin.
The president later nominated tax service chief Mikhail Mishustin to replace Mr Medvedev as prime minister.
The unexpected announcement comes four years before Mr Putin's fourth term of office is due to end.
Under the existing constitution, he would not be entitled to another term.
The Russian leader said during a speech to both chambers of parliament that there would be a nationwide vote on changes that would shift power from the presidency to parliament.
Russian government sources told the BBC that ministers did not know about the government's resignation ahead of the announcement.
"It was a complete surprise," one source said.

Beach Hut · Jan 15, 2020

Communist democracy

Bulldog · Jan 15, 2020

Beach Hut said:
Communist democracy

Really? When most industry is privately owned by billionaires.

Swansman · Jan 15, 2020

From what Putin & Medvedev said today, its about "diversification of power". I am pro-Putin, but personally - from the short notes I read - I feel its the reverse. It sounds like they want to get closer to the Chinese system by i.e. making the State Council more powerful meaning you revoke power elsewhere where Putin has less control. Handing more power both to the State Council and the State Duma also means that they rather than him could change the president term limits, making him eligible to be re-elected in 2024 if he wants to.

That said, there's also a possibility he "simply" wants to stir things up in order not to get comfortable, since that was a mistake made in the Soviet era.

Swansman · Jan 15, 2020

Bulldog said:
Really? When most industry is privately owned by billionaires.

A lot of people believe that communism is about having a one party system and ignore all the ideological stuff. Russia are pretty far from a communist country though Xi over in China makes Putin look like Karl Marx.

Bulldog · Jan 15, 2020

The only political party Putin has any concern over is the Communist party. There are still a lot of people who long for the good old days when the party provided everything.

Putin has done all he can to discredit the Communist party and leaders and has even opened the historical archives so people can see the terrible waste of Soviet soldiers during WW2 under the communists.

I would hesitate to call Russia a democracy but there is no way they are Communists.

blue-shifted · Jan 15, 2020

Swansman said:
A lot of people believe that communism is about having a one party system and ignore all the ideological stuff. Russia are pretty far from a communist country though Xi over in China makes Putin look like Karl Marx.

A lot of people use the term communism with absolutely no understanding of what it actually means

Simster · Jan 15, 2020

blue-shifted said:
A lot of people use the term communism with absolutely no understanding of what it actually means

This certainly seems to apply to Beach Hut based on his comment earlier. Russia is clearly not a "communist democracy"

Harry Wilson's tackle · Jan 15, 2020

So is this good or bad?

Triggaaar · Jan 15, 2020

Beach Hut said:
Communist democracy

Er, capitalist dictatorship

cloud · Jan 15, 2020

Other measures include:

1. Limiting the supremacy of international law This sounds dodgy

2. Amending the rules that limit presidents to two consecutive terms So he can carry on as president

3. Strengthening laws that prohibit presidential candidates who have held foreign citizenship or foreign residency permits I wonder who he has in mind?

blue-shifted · Jan 15, 2020

Harry Wilson's tackle said:
So is this good or bad?

I'm looking at it through the prism of something who thinks that Putin is one the most nefarious f*****rs in the world and i'm thinking bad. It removes the, admittedly small, chance of the Russians looking to elect someone who will be less disruptive and aggressive on the world stage

Dick Knights Mumm · Jan 15, 2020

I recommend Bill Browder's book Red Notice. A remarkable read but Putin is a gangster.

Swansman · Jan 15, 2020

cloud said:
Other measures include:

1. Limiting the supremacy of international law This sounds dodgy[/COLOR]

I think the majority of the Russian population is happy with this since non of the powerful states seem that interested in following international law, making Putin look like bit of a pussy if he did.

peterward · Jan 16, 2020

blue-shifted said:
I'm looking at it through the prism of something who thinks that Putin is one the most nefarious f*****rs in the world and i'm thinking bad. It removes the, admittedly small, chance of the Russians looking to elect someone who will be less disruptive and aggressive on the world stage

Yep.... The despot is going nowhere.

clapham_gull · Jan 16, 2020

Triggaaar said:
Er, capitalist dictatorship

It's actually a "managed democracy".

clapham_gull · Jan 16, 2020

Harry Wilson's tackle said:
So is this good or bad?

I'm not sure yet but I will speak to my ex-communist bloc friend is a bit of an authority when it comes to explaining Putin.

I expect he will explain that Putin is caving out a Supreme Leader of Russia Role.

He's basically bored of actually having to actually do stuff as President, wants to take a "back seat" and take more time out bear wresting etc...

Such is his concern for the workload of the next President of Russia, he is going to lessen their powers constitutionally before he leaves.

He is very misunderstood.

clapham_gull · Jan 16, 2020

Swansman said:
I think the majority of the Russian population is happy with this since non of the powerful states seem that interested in following international law, making Putin look like bit of a pussy if he did.

Russians are "happy" with him because he feeds them the nationalist propaganda they want to hear. The nation was humiliated after the collapse of communism and Putin knows which buttons to push. Does help if you are able to "disappear" journalists who don't agree.

What I find interesting about Putin and Russia is he very popular with the younger vote. Older voters can see him for what he is, but learned to keep their mouths shut under communism.

Swansman · Jan 16, 2020

clapham_gull said:
Russians are "happy" with him because he feeds them the nationalist propaganda they want to hear. The nation was humiliated after the collapse of communism and Putin knows which buttons to push. Does help if you are able to "disappear" journalists who don't agree.

What I find interesting about Putin and Russia is he very popular with the younger vote. Older voters can see him for what he is, but learned to keep their mouths shut under communism.

Well, everyone likes propaganda. "Party X wants freedom, I'm in!!!". "Party X wants a return to the old ways, I'm in!!". "Party X wants to strangle people I dont like, I'm in!!". Its very much not a uniquely Russain phenomenon, but he is good at it. And since he backs up his nationalist propaganda with often pretty nationalist politics, they remain happy. And whatever me or you think about nationalism, it should be your job as a politican to act in the interest of the people; if they want nationalism and you give them nationalism, you are doing your job - which is more than could be said of your average politican elsewhere.

Dont agree with your thoughts on older voters. While Putin and his allied billionaires do take care of i.e. journalists going too deep into what they're doing, they are not (at least not yet) silencing critics. Quite the opposite, they are generally very outspoken. Its true that many older Russians dont really like him, but they are not unhappy enough to protest either - the status quo is decent enough and the turmoil if he would leave or be forced away wouldnt be worth the hassle.

sydney · Jan 16, 2020

Harry Wilson's tackle said:
So is this good or bad?

i'd say it's good if you're a billionaire or involved in an organised crime gang or football violence squad.

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[Politics] Putin sacks the Russian PM Mr Medvedev and the Russian Parliment resigns

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