Medvedev defends swapping top posts with Putin
Source: Agencies |
April 27, 2012, Friday
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RUSSIAN President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday defended his upcoming job swap with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as a move that will strengthen democracy, and predicted they will rule Russia together "for a long time."
In a rare live interview with journalists, Medvedev defended the tandem as providing checks and balances. "It's not bad when the country's future and political life depend not only on the whims of one man, but when all decisions are taken after a discussion, when there are several people in the country who can influence the political process," he said. "This is normal. This is movement toward democracy."
Asked how long the pair can govern, Medvedev said: "Everybody should relax. This is for a long time."
Putin begins a six-year term on May 7, and the following day is expected to nominate Medvedev as prime minister.
When Medvedev was challenged on the failures of his anti-corruption drive - one of the main goals of his four-year presidency - he bluntly laid the blame on what he called a tightly knit world of bureaucrats who have formed their own "corporation" and resist change.
Medvedev said the problem was ingrained in the system, and could not solely be solved by firing those who are corrupt, but would require a change in mentality. He stressed that while it was important to fight high-level corruption, the bribes routinely paid to teachers and doctors by ordinary Russians were no less wrong.
Despite Medvedev's pledges to fight corruption, the payment of bribes has increased. One study estimated that Russia's 143 million people paid about 164 billion rubles (US$5.5 billion) in "everyday" bribes in 2010.
In a rare live interview with journalists, Medvedev defended the tandem as providing checks and balances. "It's not bad when the country's future and political life depend not only on the whims of one man, but when all decisions are taken after a discussion, when there are several people in the country who can influence the political process," he said. "This is normal. This is movement toward democracy."
Asked how long the pair can govern, Medvedev said: "Everybody should relax. This is for a long time."
Putin begins a six-year term on May 7, and the following day is expected to nominate Medvedev as prime minister.
When Medvedev was challenged on the failures of his anti-corruption drive - one of the main goals of his four-year presidency - he bluntly laid the blame on what he called a tightly knit world of bureaucrats who have formed their own "corporation" and resist change.
Medvedev said the problem was ingrained in the system, and could not solely be solved by firing those who are corrupt, but would require a change in mentality. He stressed that while it was important to fight high-level corruption, the bribes routinely paid to teachers and doctors by ordinary Russians were no less wrong.
Despite Medvedev's pledges to fight corruption, the payment of bribes has increased. One study estimated that Russia's 143 million people paid about 164 billion rubles (US$5.5 billion) in "everyday" bribes in 2010.
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