Putin’s report card
Vladimir Putin's address to the State Duma in early April is likely to focus on his government's plans to combat the growing economic crisis, and its record over the past year. But Duma deputies are not too hyped about the prime minister's report, lamenting the lack of powers to control the administration.
A legislative novelty obliging the regulation to report annually to parliament was part of a package of constitutional amendments proposed by President Dmitry Medvedev in November, along with extensions to the president's and Duma deputies' terms of office.
Putin's speech, which will be comparable to his State of the Union presidential addresses during his eight years as president, was devised as a tool to exercise ordered control over the authority. Apart from reporting the results of the government's work in 2008, Putin will answer three questions posed by each of the Duma's four factions.
These questions range from state support for high-tech industries amid the economic crisis and restricting hikes in energy tariffs to changing trade regulations and making real estate more affordable.
The Communists are planning to complain about Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank, the country's biggest state-controlled banks, spending the $40 billion-plus they received in state loans - intended to support the non-financial sector - for share buyouts and to purchase foreign currency. They will ask Putin whether he plans to get that money back.
The Regnum news agency reported that the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party faction in the Duma, Igor Lebedev, has expressed the hope that Putin's address will not be a formality, and that ministers will be held obliged for their failures. But the chances of this happening are not exactly high.
The United Russia-dominated Duma has long been a rubber stamp for the administration, hardly ever challenging the bills put forth by the Kremlin and being, in Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov's own words, "no place for discussions."
Deputies from the three minority factions claim that they are barely (if at all) heard, and their counterparts from the ruling party agree. "The parliament has no control whatsoever over the government; [the United Russia faction] has only a symbolic influence over the rule, others have none at all," said Gennady Gudkov, a Duma deputy with the Just Russia party.
Parties have to rely on other, less official mechanisms to exert influence on the management, he said. "If anything can be done at all, it can only be done through personal meetings and agreements with the prime minister, who sometimes meets [State Duma factions]. The head of our party regularly meets with Putin and Medvedev, so we do have a chance to express our concerns. We're not desperate about the situation because there is an break for dialogue, but if we're talking about it as a system, there isn't one," said Gudkov.
Last week, Gryzlov said that Putin's speech was scheduled for Thursday 2nd April, forcing deputies to change their plans. Yet later, the date was unexpectedly moved back four days. After delivering his report, Putin will unveil the government's anti-crisis measures.
Yet there is another side to this story. On 2nd April, Putin's speech would have clashed with Medvedev's speech at the G-20 summit in London. Medvedev is also scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama the day before. Both events are expected to dominate the news, and would thus throw into Putin's address to the Duma.
Putin's previous two prime ministers, Mikhail Fradkov and Viktor Zubkov, were widely perceived as figureheads, having very little political weight and merely managing the day-to-day activities of the management.
Things changed drastically with Putin's arrival. Not only his persona, but also the economic downturn that Russia has accomplished since last summer brought the command into the spotlight.
There has lately been a flurry of media theory questioning Putin's handling of the crisis. Public support for him and Medvedev is still strong, but both men have lost a few points in public approval ratings since the prospect of social unrest, albeit vague, appeared on the horizon. Putin's United Russia party also hasn't been doing as well in the regional elections as before.
Thus it is logical for Putin to seize the possibility to publicly evince his enduring clout as a national leader, appearing in control of the situation and clarifying the government's policies.
"This is a PR event more than anything else," said Anatoly Lokot, a Communist Duma deputy. "This is a big step forward in terms of control over the sway, but I don't see how there could be any answerability until we can assess the results and make decisions on the government's future work. As of now, we have no such powers."
A legislative novelty obliging the regulation to report annually to parliament was part of a package of constitutional amendments proposed by President Dmitry Medvedev in November, along with extensions to the president's and Duma deputies' terms of office.
Putin's speech, which will be comparable to his State of the Union presidential addresses during his eight years as president, was devised as a tool to exercise ordered control over the authority. Apart from reporting the results of the government's work in 2008, Putin will answer three questions posed by each of the Duma's four factions.
These questions range from state support for high-tech industries amid the economic crisis and restricting hikes in energy tariffs to changing trade regulations and making real estate more affordable.
The Communists are planning to complain about Sberbank, VTB and Gazprombank, the country's biggest state-controlled banks, spending the $40 billion-plus they received in state loans - intended to support the non-financial sector - for share buyouts and to purchase foreign currency. They will ask Putin whether he plans to get that money back.
The Regnum news agency reported that the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party faction in the Duma, Igor Lebedev, has expressed the hope that Putin's address will not be a formality, and that ministers will be held obliged for their failures. But the chances of this happening are not exactly high.
The United Russia-dominated Duma has long been a rubber stamp for the administration, hardly ever challenging the bills put forth by the Kremlin and being, in Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov's own words, "no place for discussions."
Deputies from the three minority factions claim that they are barely (if at all) heard, and their counterparts from the ruling party agree. "The parliament has no control whatsoever over the government; [the United Russia faction] has only a symbolic influence over the rule, others have none at all," said Gennady Gudkov, a Duma deputy with the Just Russia party.
Parties have to rely on other, less official mechanisms to exert influence on the management, he said. "If anything can be done at all, it can only be done through personal meetings and agreements with the prime minister, who sometimes meets [State Duma factions]. The head of our party regularly meets with Putin and Medvedev, so we do have a chance to express our concerns. We're not desperate about the situation because there is an break for dialogue, but if we're talking about it as a system, there isn't one," said Gudkov.
Last week, Gryzlov said that Putin's speech was scheduled for Thursday 2nd April, forcing deputies to change their plans. Yet later, the date was unexpectedly moved back four days. After delivering his report, Putin will unveil the government's anti-crisis measures.
Yet there is another side to this story. On 2nd April, Putin's speech would have clashed with Medvedev's speech at the G-20 summit in London. Medvedev is also scheduled to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama the day before. Both events are expected to dominate the news, and would thus throw into Putin's address to the Duma.
Putin's previous two prime ministers, Mikhail Fradkov and Viktor Zubkov, were widely perceived as figureheads, having very little political weight and merely managing the day-to-day activities of the management.
Things changed drastically with Putin's arrival. Not only his persona, but also the economic downturn that Russia has accomplished since last summer brought the command into the spotlight.
There has lately been a flurry of media theory questioning Putin's handling of the crisis. Public support for him and Medvedev is still strong, but both men have lost a few points in public approval ratings since the prospect of social unrest, albeit vague, appeared on the horizon. Putin's United Russia party also hasn't been doing as well in the regional elections as before.
Thus it is logical for Putin to seize the possibility to publicly evince his enduring clout as a national leader, appearing in control of the situation and clarifying the government's policies.
"This is a PR event more than anything else," said Anatoly Lokot, a Communist Duma deputy. "This is a big step forward in terms of control over the sway, but I don't see how there could be any answerability until we can assess the results and make decisions on the government's future work. As of now, we have no such powers."
