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Medvedev dismisses Moscow mayor
Source: Agencies |
September 29, 2010, Wednesday
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RUSSIA'S president fired defiant Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov yesterday, ousting the man who gave the crumbling capital a glamorous facelift but was maligned for his wife's chokehold on construction projects.
President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree relieving the 74-year-old mayor of his duties due to a "loss of confidence" in him, according to the Kremlin. Luzhkov had been in mayor for 18 years.
"It's hard to imagine a situation in which (Luzhkov) and the president of Russia ... continue to work together when the president has lost confidence in the regional leader," Medvedev said in Shanghai, where he is on an official visit.
Speculation over the future of the cap-wearing mayor had swirled in recent days, forcing him to declare on Monday that he wouldn't quit - an option that Medvedev's spokeswoman said the Kremlin had offered to him.
Luzhkov made no public comment but in a resignation letter to United Russia, the ruling party headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, he suggested there had been an orchestrated campaign to oust him.
"Recently, being one of the party's leaders, I have been fiercely attacked by state mass media, and the attacks were related to the attempts to push Moscow's mayor off the political scene," Luzhkov said in the letter.
For years Luzhkov has remained despite rumors that his days are numbered, with many attributing his sticking power to his ability to deliver the Moscow vote for United Russia, which he helped create. Firing him now gives the Kremlin time to appoint a successor who can also guarantee votes before the 2011 parliamentary elections and the 2012 presidential vote.
Luzhkov, meanwhile, leaves a considerable legacy.
The stocky former chemical engineering plant manager ran the city of 10 million with the aggressive vigor of a tough foreman.
Under his long tenure, Moscow underwent an astonishing makeover from a shabby and demoralized city into a swaggering and stylish metropolis. As the prices for Russia's oil and gas soared and foreign investment poured into the vastly underdeveloped country, Russia's capital sprouted gigantic construction projects - malls, offices and soaring apartment towers.
Much of that work was done by the construction company headed by Luzhkov's wife, Yelena Baturina, who is believed to be Russia's only female dollar billionaire. Suspicions swirled consistently that corruption by Luzhkov fed his wife's wealth.
Luzhkov's star began falling sharply in July when an ill-conceived repair project on the main highway to Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport created backups that left drivers taking up to six hours to get there from the city.
President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree relieving the 74-year-old mayor of his duties due to a "loss of confidence" in him, according to the Kremlin. Luzhkov had been in mayor for 18 years.
"It's hard to imagine a situation in which (Luzhkov) and the president of Russia ... continue to work together when the president has lost confidence in the regional leader," Medvedev said in Shanghai, where he is on an official visit.
Speculation over the future of the cap-wearing mayor had swirled in recent days, forcing him to declare on Monday that he wouldn't quit - an option that Medvedev's spokeswoman said the Kremlin had offered to him.
Luzhkov made no public comment but in a resignation letter to United Russia, the ruling party headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, he suggested there had been an orchestrated campaign to oust him.
"Recently, being one of the party's leaders, I have been fiercely attacked by state mass media, and the attacks were related to the attempts to push Moscow's mayor off the political scene," Luzhkov said in the letter.
For years Luzhkov has remained despite rumors that his days are numbered, with many attributing his sticking power to his ability to deliver the Moscow vote for United Russia, which he helped create. Firing him now gives the Kremlin time to appoint a successor who can also guarantee votes before the 2011 parliamentary elections and the 2012 presidential vote.
Luzhkov, meanwhile, leaves a considerable legacy.
The stocky former chemical engineering plant manager ran the city of 10 million with the aggressive vigor of a tough foreman.
Under his long tenure, Moscow underwent an astonishing makeover from a shabby and demoralized city into a swaggering and stylish metropolis. As the prices for Russia's oil and gas soared and foreign investment poured into the vastly underdeveloped country, Russia's capital sprouted gigantic construction projects - malls, offices and soaring apartment towers.
Much of that work was done by the construction company headed by Luzhkov's wife, Yelena Baturina, who is believed to be Russia's only female dollar billionaire. Suspicions swirled consistently that corruption by Luzhkov fed his wife's wealth.
Luzhkov's star began falling sharply in July when an ill-conceived repair project on the main highway to Moscow's Sheremetyevo international airport created backups that left drivers taking up to six hours to get there from the city.
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