Russian Government Resigns as Putin Calls for Change
President Putin met with economist Mikhail Mishustin after appointing him as prime minister. (Kremlin)
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and all other cabinet members left their positions suddenly on January 15, according to DW. The resignations occurred after President Vladimir Putin announced plans for sweeping constitutional reforms, presumably aimed to keep his grasp on power after his term expires in 2024.
A change of this extent is unprecedented in the Russian Federation’s history; however, Putin’s ploys to stay in power are certainly nothing new. “It’s not a power grab,” Alina Polyakova, president of the Center for European Policy Analysis told Vox, “it’s a plan to ensure that Putin de facto remains in power for life.”
The common thread running through Putin’s proposed changes is weakening the power of the future Russian president, reports CNN, wherein the sole power to choose the prime minister and other cabinet officials will shift from the president to Parliament. This is in addition to extending the powers of the State Council, which contains regional governors and various state officials, as well as local governments overall.
Even though the presidency would keep some of its current powers, such as appointing most leadership positions in the armed forces and law enforcement agents, the authority of the president will greatly be diminished if Putin’s proposals come to fruition, according to CNN.
This system of increased checks and balances may seem beneficial to restoring the faltering democracy of Russia, but the powers lost by the future president of Russia will move to other places in the Russian government, according to The Moscow Times. Putin may seek to dominate these sectors in the future.
Although there are suspicions that the government resigned in protest to these major changes, Medvedev expressed that he and his cabinet resigned in order to “provide the president of our country with the opportunity to make all the decisions necessary for this,” reports CNN. Putin thanked Medvedev and other outgoing cabinet members for their work over the years. Now, Medvedev serves as the Vice Chairman of the Russian Security Council, a position seen by many as a demotion.
To replace Medvedev as prime minister, Putin nominated Mikhail Mishustin, an economist and head of the Federal Taxation Service. The Russain Parliament confirmed Mishustin, a largely unknown and previously globally insignificant government official, with 383 votes in favor, 41 abstentions—all in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation—and no votes against, according to Meduza.
Despite the prevailing notion that he is a man of great promise and buoyancy, "it seems highly likely that Mishustin is just a technocratic placeholder," Carnegie Moscow Center’s Tatyana Stanovaya wrote for Reuters. "Putin's logic in cases like this has always been to wait until a few months before elections before revealing the name of his successor."
While these mass resignations in the Russian government are certain to change the state of the Russian government, one thing remains constant: where power shifts, Putin follows.