íÅdvedev Prolongs Own Powers up to 6 Years and Will "Purge" Puti-Put

It is difficult to say, whether Medvedev's Manifest was planned to Obama's election or it simply happened so. Likely, it was planned. Really the president prolonged his powers up to 6 years and for simplification of relations with parliament prolonged the deputy term up to 5 years. There are no doubts that today the offers stated in Medvedev's message will be voted for by Duma. Actually the president declared that he was ready to share powers with Federal Assembly, having cut them down from executive authority, first of all from the government which he as a matter of fact subordinated to parliament.

When íÅdvedev said that in Russia there were only two real institutes of authority which were delegated with powers directly by people elected them - the president and the parliament, the First channel showed prime-minister Putin sitting between Gryzlov and íironov. There was such a feeling that Putin had swallowed something long that forced him to sit unnaturally upright and made thus unpleasant sensations in a mouth.

The government now will be not simply report to parliament annually - it will start answering all questions which will be put before it by the deputies, instead of writing "composition on a free theme" - how good we are at supervising Russia.

The parliament failed not to accept such attractive offers. The threshold in 7 percent will not be reduced but "small parties" will receive 2-3 deputy mandates if they will collect more than 5 percent into Duma. Thus the only mechanism protecting "undesirable" parties from arbitrariness of the CEC - selective pledge - is cancelled. Clearly that petition is always simple falsification, especially in those terms which are allocated on their gathering. That is only those whom they in the Kremlin will want to see will be admitted to elections. Later cancellation of petition also could be entered for them, even if some "small parties" will have fractions in the third of regional legislative assemblies.

íÅdvedev openly said that all last years authority was engaged in strengthening of only "big", parliamentary parties. Including "oppositional" ones, that is the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. Now some more "small parties" will be incorporated into imperious elite - probably, it's said about liberals, probably, Patriots of Russia - and that's all. íÅdvedev promised sometime to lower "stage by stage" the quantity of signatures submitted on elections as well as the quantity of members of the parties necessary for registration in Ministry of Justice. This innovation will hardly touch National Bolsheviks - even if only one signature will be necessary, in case with National Bolshevik Party Limonov's signature will be recognized void.

Probably, "Fair Russia" will also have problems - íÅdvedev declared that he would stop shame with formation of the Federation Council by a principle who would give bigger bribe. Only those who are already deputies of local legislative assembly will be elected to the Upper Chamber. Whether generated senators will elect "commande Serega" the speaker - far from sure thing.

There are also "gifts" for Gryzlov with Zyuganov - on the one hand, the chapter of the subject of Federation will be suggested only by the party which has won elections to legislative assembly of the region. On the other hand, amendments to the Law about Parties will force to carry out rotation of the administrative board of the parties. It means only that successor of Zyuganov will be for sure appointed and he will be appointed already on the Old Square.

As a whole everything is very simple - the message is the message first of all to new American administration (and in no way to Federal Assembly of puppets). It's stated in it that Kremlin whores are ready to go on liberalization of the system in certain frameworks, they are ready even "to hand over" Putin (not bag and baggage but in reasonable limits), in exchange they demand to let them alone - first for 6 years, then for 6 years more, then we'll see.

However such Medvedev's Manifest (association with manifest of Nikolay II is not for nothing) obviously shows internal weakness of system, its intraclan contradictions and inability to react adequately to objective calls of a history - Medvedev said nothing essential and concrete about the crisis.

So, changes declared in Medvedev's Manifest can be deeper and radical, rather than he wants.

ánatoly Baranov, editor-in-chief of FORUM.msk

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