“Why Putin needs Medvedev’s government?” the Vedomosti daily contemplates in an editorial article on Tuesday. The newspaper believes that the political influence is not enough for the normal work of the Russian government.
The government is usually named as a technical government, if it is known in advance that after putting into practice several decisions this government will resign, the newspaper noted. Dmitry Medvedev’s government is taking a risk to become a technical government for a long time. For the development and fulfilment of the reforms, which the Russian president instructed to implement, the government lacks the political influence. But Putin does not need to dismiss the incumbent Cabinet.
The wave of criticism is growing recently not only against the ministers, who are in charge of unpopular reforms in the social sector. Incumbent ministers have to look back at the former ministers, who were appointed as presidential advisers. Even the State Duma began to turn a blind eye to the governmental resolutions on the bills.
This attitude to the government can point to two issues: either everybody knows that the days of the government are counted or everybody knows that this is “a government for beating,” the Vedomosti daily believes.
For several years in the leadership of the Russian state authorities Dmitry Medvedev proved that he is not a person, who shuts the door behind him. Commenting on the recent article in the Izvestia daily over the assessment of the efficiency of the ministers in the presidential administration, the prime minister stated that this is only the president who can assess the efficiency of the government and the ministers.
For the gradual fulfilment of complicated unpopular reforms the president should initiate them, he should give some time and protection from political criticism to the state officials, who are in charge of these reforms. But he will assume responsibility for the reforms this way, the newspaper believes.
The reforms in the education and health care systems are being carried out more or less efficiently, but this is not incumbent ministers who launched them, they have no guarantees that their position will be taken into account and they will be permitted to finalize them. These conditions make the involvement of the most qualified specialists less probable.
Contrary even to the previous governments under Russian President Putin the incumbent government has the lowest political influence. Say, Mikhail Fradkov was also considered as a technical prime minister, but such political heavyweights as, for instance, Alexei Kudrin and German Gref, worked in his government.