DATE=5/18/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=RUSSIA MINISTERS (L)
NUMBER=2-262528
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=MOSCOW
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: President Vladimir Putin has reappointed
Russia's foreign and defense ministers, signaling his
intention to continue current government policies.
But as V-O-A's Peter Heinlein reports from Moscow, Mr.
Putin also is pushing ahead with radical plans to
restrict the powers of Russia's regional leaders.
TEXT: President Putin signed a decree retaining
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and Defense Minister Igor
Sergeyev. In what observers described as a cautious
move aimed at maintaining stability, the Russian
leader also re-appointed Interior Minister Vladimir
Rushailo and the head of the F-S-B internal security
agency, Nikolai Patrushev.
There were no surprises on the list, which includes
several other of Mr. Putin's close political allies.
Among them is the newly-appointed finance minister and
deputy prime minister, Alexei Kudrin. The two served
together as deputy mayors in St. Petersburg. Mr.
Kudrin's most recent job was deputy to then Finance
Minister, now Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.
/// OPT ///
In announcing the appointments, Prime Minister
Kasyanov told reporters the entire cabinet should be
in place within a few days.
/// KASYANOV ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says, "We will not wait too long, and by the
beginning of next week at the latest, the entire
lineup will be announced." He said there will be some
changes, including cutting the number of ministries
from 30 to 24.
/// END OPT ///
At the same time, however, President Putin is forging
ahead with a radical plan to rein in the power of
often-rebellious regional bosses. In a dramatic
televised speech, he said he would ask that regional
governors be dropped from membership in the upper
house of parliament, and replaced with full-time
appointed legislators.
/// PUTIN ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says "regional leaders should concentrate on the
problems of their territories. That is what they are
elected for." Mr. Putin said the upper house of
parliament should be made up of full-time professional
legislators.
Reaction to the controversial plan has been mixed.
The state-run television channels carried a host of
generally supportive comments. Communist Party leader
Gennady Zyuganov called the changes necessary.
/// OPT ///
/// ZYUGANOV ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says, "Russia's history shows strong central
authority is a must. No reform is possible without
it."
/// END OPT ///
But many regional leaders were furious at the
proposals, which will strip them of much of their
power, as well as their immunity from prosecution.
/// OPT /// Ruslan Aushev, president of the
southern republic of Ingushetia, bordering Chechnya,
called the plan "an attempt to return to the dubious
practices of the Soviet Communist Party Central
Committee." /// END OPT ///
Aman Tuleyev, the governor of the Siberian Kemerovo
province and a former presidential candidate, said the
plan is aimed at punishing regional leaders, whose
independence has often been inconvenient to the
Kremlin.
/// TULEYEV ACT - IN RUSSIAN - FADE UNDER ///
He says, "If a governor is stealing or violates the
law, there should be a lever to remove him." But he
warned the proposal could turn into a tool of
political reprisal, noting that some federal laws are,
in his words, "so stupid that obeying them would harm
people."
The proposals must be approved by the lower house, the
Duma, to become law. At least one governor predicted
tough opposition to the measures, but the speakers of
both houses have already expressed support, and many
members of the Duma, which is largely loyal to Mr.
Putin, are quoted as saying the measures could pass
easily. (Signed)
NEB/PFH/JWH/ENE/gm
18-May-2000 13:44 PM EDT (18-May-2000 1744 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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