Putin flexes his muscles

Putin says he will not allow big businessmen opposed to reform stand in his way

By CNN.com Europe writer Craig Francis

As Russians from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean take to the polls in regional democratic elections, the former KGB boss and reigning president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, is adopting an increasingly centralist approach to government.

In a form reversal for the Kremlin, which under Putin's predecessor Boris Yeltsin had moved towards greater autonomy for the regions, candidates vying to govern one of the 89 regions are being told to tow the federal line.

Putin has made it clear that the political future of regional governors -- as far as he is able to manipulate -- depends on their acquiescence to his centralist demands.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Changes in Russia

Elections that began last month and run until January next year will decide the leadership of 33 of the country's 89 regions.

The message from the Kremlin has been clear -- only the methods of control have varied.

After a decade under Yeltsin's rule, where loyalty bought autonomy, the Kremlin is re-asserting its grip in an effort to eradicate corruption and dissent that at local level is stifling the economy and undermining government control.

A pledge by Putin to instill during his presidency respect for the rule of law has come under closer scrutiny in the wake of the measures taken to consolidate his power.

Last month a popular governor, Alexander Rutskoi of the Kursk region, was banned from standing for re-election by a court decision on the eve of the poll.

Other candidates known to favour autonomy, or with links to independent-minded financiers, have recently withdrawn from the election for a variety of vague reasons.

The current crackdown the oligarchs dominating the media has also been seen by many Russians as a positive step towards bringing to justice those corrupt businessmen who have done the most to cripple the economy.

According to the Moscow political analyst Alexei Pushkov of the Council on Foreign Policy, the Russian president is wielding a double-edged sword.

"It really is a two-dimensional issue. Putin does have some interest in limiting the freedom of the press but at the same time he is trying to put an end to the situation whereby the president is manipulated by the media barons," Pushkov told CNN.

"Putin has to fight against the oligarchs in fighting for a better political system. The hope is that in fighting to limit the influence on the government of a small number of powerful oligarchs, he does not fight against the independent media," he said.

But to many outsiders and, unsurprisingly, the oligarchs themselves, the arrest warrants on media tycoons Boris Berezovsky and Vladimir Gainsay do represent an attack on a nascent free press.

Berezovsky said on Thursday that he had backed Putin in this year's presidential election and the president's allies in last December's parliamentary poll. But he repeated allegations that Putin was returning Russia to authoritarian rule. "Putin is driving the country backwards. The country cannot survive another lurch like this in such a short period of time," he said. "This is destructive for the country. It is a storm leading to destruction."

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Russia must strengthen central government to thrive: Putin
July 8, 2000

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