DATE=5/5/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA / PUTIN
NUMBER=5-46268
BYLINE=EVE CONANT
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Vladimir Putin will be inaugurated as Russia's
second post-Soviet president this Sunday, May seventh.
Many Russians are studying his accomplishments as
president-elect for signs of how the 47-year-old Mr.
Putin plans to lead their country for the next four
years. Correspondent Eve Conant in Moscow filed this
report.
TEXT: There was little doubt that Vladimir Putin
would win when Russia held presidential elections in
March. The only questions were whether the former K-
G-B agent would win in a first round, and secondly,
what he would do with his power once elected.
Since his meteoric rise from prime minister to
president-elect, Mr. Putin has pushed Russia's
parliament to ratify long-delayed nuclear arms
reduction treaties, overseen a bloody "anti-terrorist"
offensive in Chechnya, and signed into law a new
security doctrine that envisages the possible first
use of nuclear weapons in response to a full-scale
conventional attack.
What is still vague is how Mr. Putin plans to prop up
Russia's ailing economy, and if he might use some
Soviet-era methods to get the job done. Russian media
in recent days have been awash with rumors that Mr.
Putin plans to create something akin to an "elected
monarchy" by strengthening presidential control over
political processes, stifling the opposition and
weakening Russia's parliament.
Some analysts fear his promised "dictatorship of the
law" will simply be a dictatorship of Mr. Putin. The
deputy director of Moscow's U-S-A-Canada Institute,
Viktor Kremenyuk, says there are few who doubt
Russia's new leader will not at least try to fulfill
his pledge to strengthen the state.
/// Kremenyuk Act ///
Mr. Putin's philosophy is the increase of state
control over everything, everything -- including
people's personal lives, their income, even
their contacts with foreigners. He adheres to
the old-style rules of the K-G-B in Soviet times
-- that the state has the right and the duty to
control everything its citizens do.
/// End Act ///
But many Russians say they want law and order after
years of economic decline under the leadership of
former President Boris Yeltsin. Opinion polls show
Russians are more concerned about their finances than
wider issues such as the conflict in Chechnya. But it
is unclear how Mr. Putin plans to improve the living
standards of the millions of Russians who voted him
into office, says Lilia Shevtsova of the Moscow
Carnegie Center.
/// Shevtsova Act ///
I bet that we'll see the same Putin who tries to
look tough and macho, who tries to force the
audience -- to force society -- to believe that
he knows the solution. But in fact he doesn't
know.
/// End Act ///
/// Opt /// What is known is that Mr. Putin has hired
a team of liberal economists to draft a 10-year plan
on Russia's economy to be unveiled in June. Many
point to the fact that he has hired liberal economists
as a sign he plans to stick with market reforms. He
has also promised to increase welfare benefits and has
already raised pensions throughout the nation. Mr.
Putin promises to fight high-level corruption and
streamline a bloated government bureaucracy. There is
also hope he will force changes in what many view as
Russia's unfair and poorly administered tax code. ///
End Opt ///
Another area where Mr. Putin's aims are unclear are in
foreign relations. On the one hand, Mr. Putin has
successfully pushed the quick ratification of START-
Two arms reduction treaty with the United States. But
on the other hand, says Ms. Shevtsova, he has barely
blinked at Western criticism over alleged human rights
abuses committed by Russian troops in Chechnya.
/// Shevtsova Act ///
He wants to look civilized and he wants to ease
the tension that has been existing, especially
after Kosovo, in our relationship with NATO and
the West. So in this sense, he is much more
pro-Western than (President) Yeltsin was at the
end of his career.
/// End Act ///
/// Begin Opt ///
Political analyst Viktor Kremenyuk says Mr. Putin may
succeed in improving ties with the West by turning the
spotlight of Russian-Western relations away from
thorny issues such as debt repayment and conflicts in
Kosovo and Chechnya, toward nuclear arms issues.
/// Kremenyuk Act ///
I think that by making this move, Mr. Putin
simply switched the focus of relations between
the United States and Russia into the arms
control area. Maybe a bit too late, maybe with
some strong doubts, but nevertheless this is an
area were we could very easily gain some common
interest.
/// End Act ///
/// End Opt ///
But arms control and international issues aside,
Russians are still mostly concerned about their own
welfare, says 59-year-old Yevgenny Baskakov.
/// Baskakov Act in Russian in full and
fade under ///
He asks, "Have you ever heard Mr. Putin say anything
about the economy? Journalists occasionally try to
ask him about it, but he is silent."
But teacher Natasha Simakova says the most important
thing to her is that Mr. Putin -- unlike his
predecessor Boris Yeltsin -- is energetic and healthy.
/// Simakova Act in Russian in full and
fade under ///
She says, "I was more concerned when Mr. Yeltsin, who
was incapable of doing anything, was in power. At
least I know Mr. Putin is really in charge, that makes
it easier to predict what he'll do." (Signed)
NEB/EC/GE/JP
05-May-2000 10:12 AM EDT (05-May-2000 1412 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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