Putin cracks the whip on satraps

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW, MAY 16. Within a week of taking office, the Russian President, Mr. Vladimir Putin, moved decisively to tighten control over the country in what analysts said could be the first steps towards establishing an authoritarian regime.

A day after Mr. Putin ordered Russia's 89 regions to be grouped into seven mega-regions under the charge of the President's envoys with broad powers to control regional governors, the Kremlin was reported to be pushing for further curbs on the power of regional bosses and for depriving them of their seats on the Upper House of Parliament.

Mr. Gennady Raikov, leader of a pro-Kremlin parliamentary faction, said the President was about to send to Parliament a Bill that would allow him to dismiss elected Governors guilty of breaking federal legislation. According to another Kremlin plan, the Federation Council, the Parliament's Upper House, could be overhauled to make it an elected, rather than appointed chamber. The plan, disclosed by an unnamed Kremlin official to a Russian news agency, calls for forming the Federation Council out of elected representatives of regions, other than regional governors and speakers of local legislative councils, who currently sit on the Upper House.

The moves have been widely hailed as necessary steps towards re- establishing strong federal authority that was largely diluted under the previous President, Mr. Boris Yeltsin, who once urged regions to grab as much power as they could swallow. As a result, the Kremlin has all but lost control over regions, which went on to introduce local taxes and open foreign missions in gross violation of Russia's Constitution.

``Vladimir Putin's decisive actions show that the President is firmly determined to reign in the regions and make them abide the law,'' the Vremya Novostei daily said. Some analysts suggested Mr. Putin's reforms could also lead to curbs on democracy. Academician Georgy Shakhnazarov, a long-time ally of the former Soviet President, Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, said Russia was heading for a ``moderately authoritarian regime.'' ``Such a regime would be prepared to act tough, if necessary, above all to uphold Russia's national interests,'' the political scientist said.

An early indication that such a regime could be in the offing was provided by a heavy-handed raid of masked security officers last week on Media-MOST, the country's largest independent media holding, whose flagship NTV television station and Segodnya newspaper have been critical of the Kremlin. Authorities denied it was a political action and said investigators searched several premises of Media-MOST for evidence of illegal eavesdropping practised by the company's security service. But many politicians condemned the raid as an act of political intimidation against a media group that has been highly critical of Russia's war in Chechnya.

However, Mr. Shakhnazarov said an authoritarian regime could be good for the country. ``A moderately authoritarian regime will be capable of leading Russia our of economic crisis, provided of course, it can end corruption,'' the academic said.

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Section  : International
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