The mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov tried to implement the famous phrase of Clausewitz, about attack being the best defense. Having returned from his vacation, the third one this year, the mayor of Moscow demonstrated confidence and power. The First World Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education caused a real stir among journalists. The reason was not in the topic of the conference, but Luzhkov’s speech. Having arrived at the main entrance, surrounded by crowds of journalists, he answered questions about his plans. They were unexpected for many: “There will be no unsolicited dismissal.”
The mayor’s entourage, being encouraged by this turn of events, started breaking the news right away. Andrei Metelsky, the deputy head of the Moscow City Duma, stated that the mayor’s words should be treated as a confirmation of his intention to work until the end of his term — the middle of 2011.
The gauntlet thrown down in such a defiant way could not be left without an adequate response. The Kremlin never allowed anybody talking to it from a position of power. Moreover, the conflict over the capital has a systemic character and is not reduced to subjective factors like who loves whom and to what extent.
The Kremlin put so much effort in building the power vertical and cherishes it so much that it simply cannot tolerate any signs of defiance, moreover a clear recalcitrance. One should be either extremely bold or have support that will ensure survival after numerous wounds on the administrative battlefield in order to openly challenge the president. It is clear that such an experienced politician as Luzhkov would not oppose the Kremlin without knowing his strength. It means there was some trump card he relied on in the political haggling.
From all appearances, most officials of the presidential administration who participated in the battle for Moscow didn’t expect the Moscow mayor to suffer such an affront. When they came to their senses, the process of firing the stubborn mayor was in high gear already. Actually, Luzhkov’s actions did not leave much of a choice for the Kremlin. The president did not have many legal roads either, because he thoroughly sticks to procedures, even though this is just an appearance. Moscow’s mayor, who was elected by the capital’s people, formally is not his subordinate. Therefore, the following formula was chosen: “Otreshit (dismissal) Yuri Luzhkov from the post of the mayor of Moscow due to a loss of confidence of the president of the Russian Federation.” Using this somewhat archaic for the modern Russian language form otreshit (dismissal) was supposed to show that the Kremlin not just dismissed the mayor, but also demoted him. They made him equal with other, lower officials, so that the mayor of Moscow is not full of himself. These semantic peculiarities have a very profound political sense for those who had a secret hope to bargain for something. Once again the binary principle won: who is not with us is against us. And tertium non datur.
Time will show whether Luzhkov will benefit from the way he played. The Kremlin still has a possibility to initiate corruption cases against Luzhkov and show the people that the president keeps to his words. But this cuts both ways. This way one can intimidate all officials, leading to a colored revolution. So far it is difficult to say whether Luzhkov considered the possibility of such a succession of events. However, now it is quite clear that not all of his plans were realized. He clearly relied on Putin’s support, but the prime minister considered it better to side with the president. Perhaps it was his pragmatic choice. There can be no disagreement in the tandem, at least in the near future. Implicitly the fact that Putin supported the mayor is proved by attacks against Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the State Duma, the head of the Higher Council of the United Russia party, who repeatedly interceded for Luzhkov.
First, in the television show Shkola Zlosloviya on the NTV channel hosted by Tatyana Tolstaya and Avdotya Smirnova, doctor of physics and mathematics, and a member of the commission on fighting against pseudo-science and falsification of scientific research Yevgeny Aleksandrov said that Gryzlov forced the administration of the Russian Academy of Sciences to recognize Petrik as a scientist. He was notorious in Russia as an inventor of special water. At this Aleksandrov vaguely singled out: “Huge money was involved there. How it will be looted is unclear.”
Second, the Kremlin, the government, and the commission for ethics of the State Duma were sent a request about the verification of declarations of the Speaker Boris Gryzlov. The authors of the request, according to the Internet publication Gazeta.ru, state that the head of the lower chamber did not declare the income of his wife, contrary to requirements of the federal legislation. This was the first verification of government officials’ income information regulated by the new legislation. According to the law, for the time of the verification the speaker’s work can be suspended for the term of up to three months. The consequences of this action are clear.
Third, Gryzlov got a local but potentially very dangerous blow inside the party. During an extraordinary session of the Novosibirsk regional legislative assembly, the deputy from the faction of United Russia Anatoly Iliutenko appealed to change the political leadership of the party: “I want to state that due to the position of a big number of members of the United Russia party,’ after September 25 we start collecting signatures for holding an extraordinary conference to change the political leadership of the United Russia party.” A very powerful mine which can blast at any moment was laid under Gryzlov this way. However, Gryzlov is Putin’s protege. It is unlikely that the premier will surrender him without a fight. But those who started this information attack must have realized it as well. It means they delivered an information assault against Luzhkov and Gryzlov, and then they will aim at… one fears even to think of it.”
Luzhkov has long been known as a Ukrainophobe. However, there are no reasons to be particularly happy about his dismissal. He does not form the policy of the Russian ruling circles concerning our country. His speeches in Sevastopol are nothing more than making that policy public. Nothing will change after a change of faces. The expansion of Moscow officials in the Crimea is not only geopolitics, but also an ordinary wish to divide and steal huge sums of the capital’s budget. It is very difficult to remove them from this sinecure; moreover, there is no special wish to do it either in Kyiv or in Moscow. In addition, Ukraine together with Belarus and Kazakhstan became a part of the struggle in Russian corridors of power. With its aggravation one should expect a more severe policy on the borders of the Russian state. So two election campaigns are ahead for us: our own campaign for the Verkhovna Rada, and their campaign to their legislative body. There have always been a lot of those who wish to show resoluteness regarding their neighbors. We should expect nothing good from this.
