Putin speaks about special
operation to replace Medvedev’s government
Vladimir Putin said in his
recent interview with TASS news agency that the former chief of the Federal Tax
Service, Mikhail Mishustin, was not initially on the list of four candidates
for the new prime minister. The resignation of Dmitry Medvedev's government was
not a "special operation", and the tandem with Dmitry Medvedev did
not break up either.
In the interview, which was
held in a new format elaborated specifically for social networks, TASS observer
Andrei Vandenko asked 20 questions to President Putin. The number of questions
coincided with the number of years, which Putin has been staying in power in
Russia.
Putin did not agree with the
assumption that the resignation of Medvedev's government, which took place an
hour after the announcement of Putin's Address to the Federal Assembly on
January 15, was carried out as a special operation. When the interviewer noted
that the reshuffling made many believe that it was all done in a rush, Putin
said that Russia was not Belgium: it is impossible to dissolve the
government and then live without a government for a whole year. "Would
it be better to dismiss the government, and then form it for six months? Can
you imagine what it would lead to?" Putin said.
Medvedev knew he would be
sacked
"Such a situation
should never happen - everything should be done calmly, one should think
through every step, have all the preparations done and then make the decision
and implement it," he said. According to Putin, Medvedev knew in advance
about the upcoming resignation of his government. However, the president
refused to specify when he made the decision to dissolve Medvedev's cabinet.
"We have a very open
and friendly relationship with Dmitry Medvedev. We have no secrets from each
other. Therefore, we discussed this [resignation]," Putin said. He assured
that his tandem with Medvedev did not break up: "We work with
Dmitry Medvedev as before." Putin did not agree with the fact
that a new position was set up for Medvedev quickly - deputy head of the
Security Council.
Putin called not to compare this post with the post of the vice president, as the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, suggested.
Putin called not to compare this post with the post of the vice president, as the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, suggested.
"The vice president
"replaces the president in the totality of his rights and
obligations," and Medvedev is only Putin's deputy within the scope of the
Security Council.
The news of the interview
was the story about four candidates who were proposed for the post of the new
Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Putin did not disclose who exactly
proposed them to the president and what other names were on the list. Interestingly,
Mikhail Mishustin was not among them, and no one pointed out his name to Putin
- the president picked him himself. The President emphasized that proposing
Mishustin's candidacy was his personal decision.
"He is a real expert in
his field. He is a good practitioner who understands what needs to be done, he
knows how to do it, and he does it to achieve specific results, "the
president explained.
He called "very
primitive" the idea that people from the tax service, which is often
called one of the most corrupt bodies in the Russian Federation, "carry
batons around to pound money out of people." The mission of the chief of
this department, according to Putin, is to "make everything easier for
taxpayers, make the procedure more transparent and understandable and less
burdensome for citizens." The honest taxpayer "has the right to count
on the state to spend these funds in an effective way."
There are many new names in the new government, but the main criteria to choose them was their professionalism, rather than popularity. Putin knows all those people as good specialists.
There are many new names in the new government, but the main criteria to choose them was their professionalism, rather than popularity. Putin knows all those people as good specialists.
Talking about what he
expects from the Mishustin government, Putin repeated once again said that the
ministers have no time to ramp up. "They are all professional people, they
are all in the loop, they have no time to ramp up," he said.
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