Well, looks like the entire Russian government is resigning because they don’t want Palpatine Putin to be Benevolent Overlord for Life.
I’m guessing they’ll need to tidy up the gulags if Putin has the support of the military.
Sounds more like a “resignation” than a resignation. More like the Queen dissolving parliament than an MP standing down, in other words. Ostensibly the reforms weaken the president’s powers, but I haven’t seen any detail and in the meantime Putin is taking on Medvedev’s responsibilities, ie is actually centralising power even further…
BBC Moscow Correspondant:
On BBC (on the radio) they discussed a parallel governing committee that will inherit the powers being removed from the President under the constitutional amendment proposed and said that Putin is in charge of that committee (and is expected to remain in charge of it when his term is complete).
Edit…
Ah.
So he’s just changing the constitution again to ensure that whatever official position he happens to have has all the important powers.
Reminds me of someone…
Seems like it.
Tax chief Mishustin is the new PM.
FT profile from July here, if you have access, in the context of his introduction of high tech to reduce VAT avoidance. It includes this rather ominous line:
I thought the mass resignation was in order to pave the way for his lifetime presidency? He can install his toadie Donnie “Two Scoops” if he really needs to have a figurehead below him.
From what’s been said so far, it seems this avoids the need to change the constitution to allow for a lifetime presidency, while having much the same effect. Maybe he figured that the optics were too bad, even for him. This he can spin as being, if not democratic, at least not dictatorial.
What a shitshow. Russians are going to have to wait until their dictator dies to join the rest of the modern world. What a shame for the Russian people. What a waste.
For the last 35-40 years ive been singing Pudding On The Ritz and thought it was about afternoon tea or something
Well, English is not your first language, right? Still kinda funny. :)
I’m British. I only speak English, a smattering of tourist level French and some hopelessly poor, embarrassingly bad Malay from time with family and living in KL. I walked past the Ritz last Monday. I have no excuse.
And that transition is going to be very dangerous.
Unless this is all orchestrated, which i guess is possible, this probably is the closest Putin is going to being vulnerable. I’d be a bit skittish if i was one of his bodyguards.
Until someone corrected me last year I thought the ELO song was “Medieval Woman”, not “Evil Woman”. I thought it meant like brutal, backwards woman.
“Mid-eeeeeeveell woman! dir nee dee dir nee digga dow. Mideeeeveal woman…”
Ah, sorry. I was under the impression that you were Malaysian, I guess.
Don’t worry, misheard lyrics are a grand tradition!
“'Scuse me, while I kiss this guy”
That’s been the dream of Russia for over a hundred years now: Oh, as soon as THIS dictator-for-life dies, we’ll finally actually join the modern world…
It definitely is.