Finance Minister pushes for political reforms in Russia
Moscow (AsiaNews) – He is said to be one of the few Russian elite to share Vladimir Putin’s confidence, but despite his friendship with the Prime Minister, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin is becoming a thorn in the government’s side, since at every opportunity he pushes for reforms to stimulate the economy and society.
As he recently did at the economic forum in Krasnoyarsk, where he made it clear that due to the lack of reform "direct investment in the Russian economy declined in 2010 ", with preliminary data indicating a figure of between 12 and 14 billion dollars, while in previous years it had reached27 billion. The minister has long pressed for a reform of the economy that encourages the flow of capital and modernization of the country.
Moreover political reform is the basis for economic reforms, the minister pointed out: "We need to ensure transparent elections that represent all the political forces of society. Only this will give the government the mandate of trust necessary for economic reforms. " The message refers to the upcoming local elections scheduled for March, but also to the December parliamentary and presidential elections of 2012.
In an interview with Kommersant, Boris Makarenko of the Centre for political technologies, said Kudrin's speech was directed explicitly to the ruling party "United Russia", accused for years of manipulating election results.
The party of Prime Minister Putin has not taken it well. "Instead of focusing on business strategy, the Minister of Finance is trying to pass on the blame," said Sergei Neverov, Secretary of the General Council of "United Russia". Neverov accused Kudrin of "ambiguous" statements and "challenging the existing mandate for the necessary reforms."
His confidence with Putin, born in the early post-Soviet years when they both worked in the administration of then Mayor Anatoly Sobchak of St. Petersburg, has so far guaranteed Kudrin a sort of immunity in the perennial struggle between political clans in Russia. Especially against attacks by so-called siloviki, the powerful lobbying apparatus of security forces, Ministry of Interior and Defence, which opposes political reform to preserve the status quo.
Kudrin rarely weighs into policy issues in the country. His latest utterances have thus raised a question among political scientists: was Putin’s blessings behind his words?
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