Two news stories that caught my eye

These two news stories from Johnson’s Russia list yesterday caught my eye. 

Medvedev speaks Russian!

Firstly, President Medvedev is finally going to start talking to the Russian press.  Apparently he’s only really been talking to the foreign press so far:

In late November, as Nezavisimaya Gazeta has found out, Russian head of state Dmitriy Medvedev will conduct his first meeting with Russian journalists since his election. Thus far, the president has only given extended interviews to Western press representatives. In March, for example, Medvedev talked with journalists of The Financial Times newspaper.

In August, the president answered questions by journalists of France’s TF-1, the BBC of Great Britain, and the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera, and in September the Russian leader gave an interview to a Euronews correspondent.

{…} For the first time in recent years, voters may ultimately not have an opportunity in 2008 to ask questions to the new head of state.

(The above extract came from Nezavisimaya Gazeta’s 7 November 2008 edition, via Johnson’s Russia List #205)

Not particularly good for building the kind of reputation that normally gets Presidents re-elected.  Or for quashing conspiracy theories that you’re only in the job to (a) get Putin out of a constitutional hole and (b) present a friendlier, more liberal, face to the West.

New Political Party with daftest idea ever.

Boris Nemtsov and Garry Kasparov are to set up a new political party, called Solidarity has been set up.  According to RIA Novosti:

[Solidarity] has defined its main goal as defending the invariability of the Russian constitution”.

(From the same edition of JRL - New opposition democratic movement being set up in Russia - RIA-Novosti)

Talk about anti-democratic. Constitutions are living documents, and must have a mechanism somewhere to allow them to be amended to reflect new political realities.  Yes, constitutions should be hard to change, but they must have some mechanism for change.  Otherwise, we live in the past.

Update: Rather depressingly, it looks like this was a typo.  Really, RIA Novosti meant to say “inviolability”.  I prefered the earlier version - it gave me a much better opportunity to rant.  ”Inviolability” is just boring.  Everyone would agree that the constitution is invoilable - even Putin. 

Tagged as: Medvedev