NEWSLINK: Vladimir Putin tries to restore monopoly of power

File Photo of Vladimir Putin at Desk

[Vladimir Putin tries to restore monopoly of power – Matthew Rojansky – Valdai Discussion Club – Dec. 4, 2012 – Valdaiclub.com interview with Matthew Rojansky, Deputy Director, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment – http://www.carnegieendowment.org/2012/12/04/vladimir-putin-tries-to-restore-monopoly-of-power/eqjp]

Matthew Rojansky of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is interviewed on politics and corruption under Vladimir Putin.

Rojansky notes the uptick in anti-corruption action, at least with respect to what is being done publicly:

I definitely think that the public dimension of the debate about corruption has reached a new level. I can’t say that the fight, as a comprehensive organized policy of the state, has changed, because the official position was always to fight corruption, and the activities that are taking place now are in some ways being forced by public scrutiny and political sensitivity. They are not a direct result of a comprehensive state program against corruption.

At the same time, Putin is said to seeking a “monopoly of power,” and the anti-corruption drive might dovetail with that push, without necessarily ending corruption itself:

What you are seeing now is a consequence of a broader initiative from Vladimir Putin to restore the monopoly of power within his political leadership. What you see over the last ten years, as Vladimir Putin was building his vertical of power, was the emergence of many so-called sub-centers of power within the broader vertical.

And in this very public battle over corrupt officials you can see a desire to remove those officials from the government, while at the same time not fundamentally changing the system that allowed them to pursue their corrupt ends ­ very similar trends to what Vladimir Putin is trying to do with funding for various kinds of social projects, where he basically wants that funding to be controlled by the state.

You see him trying to reduce the amount of foreign assets which are held by officials of the state, he wants that to be under the control of the Russian state. So the bottom line is that he is trying to bring all of the key channels of power and money and influence more closely into his control, at least as far as the government and those people who occupy positions within his pyramid are concerned.

[Click here for full article: http://www.carnegieendowment.org/2012/12/04/vladimir-putin-tries-to-restore-monopoly-of-power/eqjp]

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