Igor Yurgens, Director of the Institute of modern development /Insor/, which in the recent four years has been considered to be President Dmitry Medvedev’s intellectual headquarters, said in an interview with Bloomberg agency that he recommended Medvedev to refuse from the position of prime minister during Putin’s upcoming presidency, as allies of the present prime minister would “torment” him. An ideal “prime minister of the transition period” could be Alexei Kudrin, he said, “as he is considered to be a professional and clearly future president Putin trusts him.”
In early September of 2011, Yurgens and his several colleagues from the INSOR urged Medvedev to openly run for another presidential term, Vedomosti writes. However, in less than three weeks Putin and Medvedev announced they had decided to shuffle the positions and that Medvedev would become the prime minister while Putin would become president. Medvedev would not be “very successful in the job” of prime minister, Bloomberg quotes Yurgens as saying. "Kudrin would be an ideal prime minister for an interim period because he's a highly regarded professional and obviously enjoys the trust of the future President Putin," he said.
Common sense is clearly seen in Yurgens’ suggestions, Vedomosti refers to the chief economist of BNP Paribas Yulia Tseplyaeva as saying. But though the plans are voiced, it is not clear as of yet, how the power will be structured, she continued: it is not clear that all participants in the political process see it as they used to see it earlier. Thus, it is too early to give any advice regarding positions and candidates, Tseplyaeva said.
INSOR designs for Medvedev a modernisation strategy, the newspaper writes. But after the decision of September 24, 2011 about the shuffle of power, Medvedev cut his contacts with the institute, for example, he had not invited any of its representatives for the October meeting with the “public committee” of his allies – part of them, which is supposed to offer principles and parameters of the Bigger Government’s work. In early February of 2012, Yurgens already announced that Medvedev would be a “non- productive” prime minister; “major bright figures” like deputy prime ministers Dmitry Rogozin or Vladislav Surkov would turn him, he said in an interview with Izvesitia. At that time, Yurgens suggested introducing a position of vice president, so that Medvedev could take it, thus, keeping chances for his political survival, as well as reforming the legal and judicial systems.
Yurgens’ ideas seem to be shocking at least for three reasons, Kommersant writes. The position of prime minister was offered to Dmitry Medvedev by Vladimir Putin at the September congress of the United Russia. Later on, Putin, irrespective of conditions, has never refused the words, and Medvedev, in his turn, even started working on the format of the Bigger Government. A refusal from the position would look mostly incorrect towards Putin, and this is not to mention those who Dmitry Medvedev involved in the Bigger Government project. Head of the Effective Policy Foundation Gleb Pavlovsky said that if Dmitry Medvedev refused premiership, “it would be a bad signal for the political elite and the political culture.” As the premiership had been offered publicly to Dmitry Medvedev.
Secondly, the newspaper continues, the state authorities’ structure does not have a position comparable with that of prime minister: Medvedev may find himself without a government, but then comes the question – where will he be working? Finally, Yurgens says that Dmitry Medvedev could give his position to Alexei Kudrin – any political and human relations between them spoiled in September of 2011 and have only got worse ever since.
“All obligations will be observed, as this is one team, and it is not worth illusions that it contains different trends,” a member of Yabloko’s political commission Sergei Ivanenko told Kommersant. “Medvedev will become prime minister, and it will become absolutely clear in three week’s time.”