Putin disolves Russian cabinet.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:21 pm

President Vladimir Putin dissolved Russia's government Wednesday and then quickly nominates Viktor Zubkov, a Russian Cabinet official who oversees the fight against money laundering, to be the new prime minister.

Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the State Duma, said Putin nominated Zubkov, who heads the Federal Financial Monitoring Service and who served under Putin when the two worked in the city administration of St. Petersburg in the early 1990s.

Earlier Wednesday, in a major political shakeup, Putin dismissed Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and dissolved his cabinet, paving the way for Putin to name a new head of government.

Most observers had expected that the new premier would be the leading contender to succeed Putin when he steps down after March elections.

But Zubkov had not been even considered as a contender.

A Kremlin source told FOX News that Zubkov was not Putin's choice to be the next president of Russia.

The newspaper Vedomosti, citing unidentified Kremlin officials, reported that Sergei Ivanov, a first deputy prime minister and a leading contender to succeed Putin, could be appointed to replace Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.

â€¢ FOX Facts: Russia's Government

Another first deputy prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, who is a top executive at natural gas monopoly OAO Gazprom, was considered the other leading contender.

Under the constitution, which the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has one week to vote on a nominee for prime minister. the pres. Russian news agencies said Fradkov would serve as acting prime minister until the vote.

Fradkov said he asked for the dissolution of his government because with elections approaching, Putin needed to have a free hand to make decisions, including those concerning appointments.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled for Dec. 2, followed some three months later by presidential balloting.

"You might be right that we must all think about how to structure the government so that it better suits the pre-election period and prepares the country for what will happen after the parliamentary and presidential elections," Putin said.

[url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296505,00.html]Source/[url]

Anyone else have a bad feeling about this?

Post by **Teaos** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:26 pm

Sounds bad but then again your sourse is FOX so I trust it as much as I trust a drug dealer.

Post by **Captain Seafort** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:34 pm

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted the resignation of PM Mikhail Fradkov and nominated a financial crime investigator to replace him.
Victor Zubkov, head of the federal financial monitoring service, is a relative unknown in Russian politics.

The change marks a major political shake-up ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections.

The lower house of the Russian parliament, the Duma, is set to vote on Mr Zubkov's nomination on Friday.

Mr Fradkov offered to resign earlier Wednesday, citing "approaching significant political events", said Tass news agency.

Mr Putin asked Mr Fradkov to stay on as acting prime minister until his replacement is confirmed.

"We all have to think together how to build a structure of power so that it better corresponds to the pre-election period and prepares the country for the period after the presidential election in March," Mr Putin said in accepting Mr Fradkov's resignation.

Strong platform

Elections to the Duma are to be held in December.

VIKTOR ZUBKOV
Born: 1941, Sverdlovsk region
Education: Economist, specialising in agriculture
Worked with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg city administration in early 1990s
From 1993 to 2000, he worked for the federal tax service and tax ministry
From 2001: Head of financial monitoring service
Mr Putin is barred by Russia's constitution from running for a third term as president in elections in March.

Whoever becomes the new prime minister gains a strong platform from which to campaign to replace Mr Putin, correspondents say.

Russian media had been speculating that First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov - long considered a frontrunner for the presidency - could have been about to be made prime minister.

Mr Ivanov worked under Mr Putin in the FSB, the internal intelligence agency, in the 1990s and the two men are believed to be close.

Power struggle?

Mr Zubkov is also reported to have close ties to Mr Putin, both men having worked for the St Petersburg city administration.

But few in Russia believe that Mr Zubkov is now in the running for the presidency, says the BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Moscow.

Instead, says our correspondent, many analysts believe he has been appointed to ensure a smooth transition between Mr Putin and his successor, whoever that might be.

Mr Ivanov is one of President Putin's closest allies
None of Russia's political heavyweights has yet declared his candidacy and Mr Putin has not yet publicly endorsed anyone.

Dmitry Medved, the other first deputy prime minister, has also been seen as a possible presidential candidate.

The choice of a Mr Zubkov suggests a behind-the-scenes power struggle between "clans" within the Kremlin that are differentiated mainly by their degree of hostility toward the West, says the BBC's Russia analyst Steven Eke.

White House National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the choice of leaders was a matter for the people of Russia to decide and that the US "looks forward to continuing its good relations with the Russian government".

The Beeb gives the impression that this bloke has been appointed because he's an unlikely presidential candidate, to provide stability during the succession.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:52 pm

Its being reported over here as well. So it does seem to be true...

Post by **Mikey** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 5:23 pm

I saw it other sources Steside, too. Interesting that this comes so soon on the heels of fresh Russian complaints about US missile-defense testing, and unveiling their new conventional airburst bomb which detonates as fiercely as a nuke....

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 9:56 pm

Didn't they recently test a very powerfull nuke lately?

Post by **Mikey** » Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:38 pm

I don't know about that, but they did recently succesfully test a conventional bomb equivalent to a tactical nuke - the equivalent of 44 tons of TNT.

I am led to believe that the Russian cabinet and government will reconvene when and if the Duma approves the new prime minister (who worked for Putin in St. Petersburg.) I can only assume that this is Putin's attempt to remain the power behind the throne once his own tenure is up.

RK_Striker_JK_5 · Post by **RK_Striker_JK_5** » Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:01 am

Well, this is not good...

Azrael · Post by **Azrael** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 9:02 pm

Nah it wasn't a nuke

it's the most powerful convential bomb ever created, even more so then the MOAB(Massive Ordinance Air Blast/Mother of all Bombs), because of the type of explosive it uses.

Post by **Graham Kennedy** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 9:30 pm

44 tons is nothing compared to nukes. The smallest nuke I've ever heard of was a one kiloton warhead - more than 20 times bigger than that bomb.

Post by **Captain Seafort** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 9:36 pm

GrahamKennedy wrote:44 tons is nothing compared to nukes. The smallest nuke I've ever heard of was a one kiloton warhead - more than 20 times bigger than that bomb.

The smallest nuclear device ever designed was the W-54 used in the Davy Crocket, with a variable yield equivalent to 10 or 20 tons of TNT. That's about as small as you can get.

Post by **Graham Kennedy** » Sat Sep 15, 2007 9:47 pm

Yeah? I did not know that, thanks for the correction.

Post by **Mikey** » Sun Sep 16, 2007 1:36 pm

I may have gotten the equvialency wrong, but that's how it was described in the media.

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:31 am

'Putin dissolves russian cabinet' is less ripley scott-esque, than 'Putin dissolves mahogany cabinet....with his acidic breath' now that would be sweet

Post by **Mikey** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:47 pm

Unfortunately, that is a little too close to what ACTUALLY did happen to the leading candidate (now president) in the last election in Ukraine...