NEWSWATCH: “Volodin vs. Kiriyenko: The Battle for Influence in Russia’s Power Vertical” – Carnegie Moscow/ Andrey Pertsev
“… #Putin’s power vertical has always been an extremely simple construct: the presidential administration deals with everything—all party, parliamentary, and personnel issues—no questions asked. Because a second source of authority would undermine its top-down system, the Kremlin works hard to suppress attempts to create alternate centers of power.
… however, a power struggle has emerged between #Duma Speaker Vyacheslav #Volodin, the former first deputy chief of staff of the presidential administration, and his successor Sergey #Kiriyenko—and their conflict is threatening to open up a rift in the power vertical. …”