Federal Officials and Siloviki in Regions Getting Used to Governors Making Decisions, Gallyamov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, April 10 – Something new is going on in Russia’s federal subjects, Abbas Gallyamov says. Not only are the governors getting used to making more decisions on their own, but federal officials in the regions and siloviki, the people the Kremlin have always counted on to ensure its total control, are also getting used to the regional powers taking independent action.

            These people are coming to the realization that the governor isn’t just someone they have to control to ensure he obeys Moscow but an official whose decisions will affect their well-being as well, the commentator says, adding that this reminds him of the situation “in the second half of the 1980s” (idelreal.org/a/30543938.html, newizv.ru/article/general/10-04-2020/abbas-gallyamov-protivostoyanie-tsentra-i-regionov-neizbezhno-obostritsya and facebook.com/abbas.gallyamov/posts/10216304646599363).

            According to Gallyamov, the regions are not now going to be demanding real federalism. Rather they are going to take actions designed to make it a fait accompli. And he points out that this strategy reflects developments that have been going on for some time but that the coronavirus has acted as a triggering mechanism.

            Such a shift in the attitudes of those Moscow has used to control the regions to the extent it is real and widespread in and of itself gives the governors greater room for maneuver. Over time, he suggests, that could lead to an increase in the conflict between the center and the regions, especially but not only the non-Russian ones.