Is this filed under “And I thought the Soviets were bad” or “Let’s hope this doesn’t give Karl Rove any ideas” or “What the f does this have to do with terrorism?”…

Putin Tightens Grip on Power in Russia
Russian President Says Moves Necessary to Combat Terrorism
By Peter Baker, Washington Post Foreign Service

MOSCOW, Sept. 13 — President Vladimir Putin outlined plans Monday to “radically” change the Russian political system in a way that would increase his own power, portraying the moves as a means of combating terrorism in the aftermath of this month’s deadly school seizure.

Putin’s plan would eliminate the popular election of governors and individual members of parliament. The president would appoint governors, subject to the confirmation of regional legislatures. All members of the lower house of parliament, known as the State Duma, would be drawn from party lists rather than elected in individual districts.

“State authority must not only be adjusted to work in crisis situations,” Putin said at a televised meeting with his cabinet. “The mechanisms of its work must be radically reviewed in order to prevent crises.”

He added that “the terrorists’ long-term plans are aimed at disintegrating the country and shaking the state” and that “the country’s unity is the main condition for resisting terrorists.”

For the rest of the story, visit The Washington Post.

– Arthur Stamoulis, Economics Editor

This entry was posted on Monday, September 13th, 2004 at 4:34 pm by josh. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.