Paul Goble
Staunton, Mar. 3 --Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the Russian Duma and one of the country's most politically aware leaders, has recently become more supportive of the federal subjects because he senses that they soon will acquire additional power to act independently and he wants them on his side rather than having them as opponents, according to Pavel Salin.
The political researcher at Moscow's Finance University says that Volodin's decision to back the regions and republics with regard to the reform of local administration is a clear sign of a broader shift that may soon affect his position on other issues as well (club-rf.ru/interview/538).
Obviously, Salin continues, this is not a harbinger of a return to anything like the political arrangements of the 1990s. Instead, it reflects his judgment that the powers that be are going to "try to give the system more flexibility," something that will allow the regions to act more like they did in the first decade and a half of this century.
According to the analyst, Volodin senses this and is acting as he often has to "be a little ahead of events" so that any change he makes in his own approach will "look natural and not forced." That explains his recent moves to reach out to the regions and republics rather than being about any concern over the next round of Duma elections.
Volodin isn't acting as anyone's agent in this, Salin says. Instead, he is testing teh waters and seeking to build up his own power base But his role in the Duma is critical and on many issues, including local government and animal control, the Kremlin may be prepared to go along rather than pick a political fight that wouldn't give it much.
And to the extent that this trend continues, the regions, on the one hand, and Volodin, on the other, may choose to test the limits on other, larger issues, something that could change just how those limits are evolving.
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