NEWSLINK: Russian ex-finance minister tipped to be premier before long
(Russian ex-finance minister tipped to be premier before long – BBC Monitoring/Ekho Moskvy Radio – January 30, 2013)
BBC Monitoring reports on Ekho Moskvy and Argumenty Nedeli covered of alleged systematic down-grading of how state-controlled Russian television presents Dmitry Medvedev to the viewing public:
Russia’s national TV channels have been told to reduce their coverage of Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev, according to Ekho Moskvy radio, which was quoting from a story in the newspaper Argumenty Nedeli.
“If you really have to cover an event with the premier’s participation then you should focus on unflattering footage of how he looks and what he says,” the radio reported. “You should concentrate on government sessions about issues that are unpopular with the public, like restrictions on smoking or tougher fines for motorists.”
file photo
The changes have fueled speculation about Alexei Kudrin possibly replacing Medvedev as Prime Minister:
Medvedev has already noticed the change in tone and asked about it, the radio continued. “Political analysts believe that Medvedev does not have long left in the prime minister’s job and he could be replaced by the former finance minister, Aleksey Kudrin.”
Meanwhile, Kudrin reportedly is to be portrayed in a more positive light.
[no open link available to BBC Monitoring story; Argumenty Nedeli story reported to be at http://argumenti.ru/politics/n374/229655]