"Entire" Russian Government Resigns.

[JoeMorgue]

CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/15/euro...esigns-vladimir-putin-reforms-intl/index.html

CNN - Moscow, Russia - The entire Russian government is resigning, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced on Russian state television Wednesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked members of the government for their work but added that "not everything worked out." Putin added that in the near future he will meet with each member of the cabinet.

The announcement came after Putin proposed constitutional amendments that would weaken his successor and shift power to the prime minister and parliament.

Well that's... a thing.

 

[ahhell]

Interesting, especially the bit about weakening his successor. I guess he's starting to feel his age and is worried the next guy won't be the philosopher king that he is.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

I would welcome it if someone could explain to me what this means.

 

[3point14]

I would welcome it if someone could explain to me what this means.

Seconded. I don't really understand the structure of the Russian parliament. I understand it even less now.

 

[Dr.Sid]

So that's second WW3 this week month ?

 

[JoeMorgue]

I didn't know coups could happen in reverse... and be passive aggressive. /jk

 

[theprestige]

Makes me think of the Senate under Caligula. Or the Reichstag passing the Enabling Act.

 

[crescent]

Interesting, especially the bit about weakening his successor. I guess he's starting to feel his age and is worried the next guy won't be the philosopher king that he is.

Didn't they do this before?

Russia has term limits, but they don't apply to non-consecutive terms.

Putin was President from 2000-2008, but was then term limited out.

Putin then became Prime Minister and Medvedev was President. During that period Putin had less political power than he previously had as President, but Medvedev himself had less authority has President than Putin had previously. That lasted from 2008-2012. One term.

Then they switched again, because the term limits don't apply to non-consecutive terms. Putin back as President and now has as much power as ever, Medvedev as Prime Minister has less than Putin had when Putin was Prime Minister.

Now Putin-as-president is being term limited again, so he is making preparations to become Prime Minister again - making that role more powerful, President less so.

Putin is still relatively young and healthy. He'll do another 4-year stint as Prime Minister, then switch back to being President again. At which point the Presidency will revert to having full powers again.


ETA: That's my take on it, at least. I'm not the expert in such things.

 

[erwinl]

Didn't they do this before?

Russia has term limits, but they don't apply to non-consecutive terms.

Putin was President from 2000-2008, but was then term limited out.

Putin then became Prime Minister and Medvedev was President. During that period Putin had less political power than he previously had as President, but Medvedev himself had less authority has President than Putin had previously. That lasted from 2008-2012. One term.

Then they switched again, because the term limits don't apply to non-consecutive terms. Putin back as President and now has as much power as ever, Medvedev as Prime Minister has less than Putin had when Putin was Prime Minister.

Now Putin-as-president is being term limited again, so he is making preparations to become Prime Minister again - making that role more powerful, President less so.

Putin is still relatively young and healthy. He'll do another 4-year stint as Prime Minister, then switch back to being President again. At which point the Presidency will revert to having full powers again.


ETA: That's my take on it, at least. I'm not the expert in such things.

Tha's the way I read it as well.

 

[CJW]

But how will he maintain control without the bureaucracy?

 

[JoeMorgue]

Ah so a sort of "No Putin we can see you setting a system where you abandon the powers of the position you have and transfer them to the position you hope (or full well know) you are going to have and we aren't going to fall for it" kind of thing?

 

[crescent]

Now I looked at the BBC article:

Russian government resigns as Putin plans future

It's got this:

The announcement comes four years before Mr Putin's fourth term of office is due to end.

Under the existing constitution he would not be entitled to another term and the Russian leader said during his speech to both chambers of parliament that there would be a nationwide vote on changes that would shift power from the presidency to parliament.

The government's resignation came as a surprise. Mr Medvedev has been prime minister for several years. He previously served as president from 2008-2012, switching roles with Mr Putin after the latter served his first two terms as president.

Russia's constitution only allows presidents to serve two consecutive terms.

The math does not add up. Putin gets two consecutive terms. Did they extend that term to 6 years? That's the only way he would still have four years left. When he was President earlier each term was four years.


ETA: According to Wikipedia, Russian Presidential terms are now indeed 6 years each. He's got four years left. That blows my own theory out of the water.

 

[theprestige]

Ah so a sort of "No Putin we can see you setting a system where you abandon the powers of the position you have and transfer them to the position you hope (or full well know) you are going to have and we aren't going to fall for it" kind of thing?

Probably more of a quid pro quo negotiation tactic. Putin probably needs some amount of cooperation from them to make this work smoothly. This time around, they're saying they want to renegotiate.

 

[RecoveringYuppy]

The math does not add up. Putin gets two consecutive terms. Did they extend that term to 6 years? That's the only way he would still have four years left. When he was President earlier each term was four years.

Does telling you that his terms were not consecutive address your confusion? If not, you might want to actually show your math.

 

[crescent]

Does telling you that his terms were not consecutive address your confusion? If not, you might want to actually show your math.

Putin had two terms during his first stint: 2000-2004, then 2004-2008. Four years per term.

Then he (Putin) was term limited. So he did a four year stint as Prime Minister, 2008-2012. Medvedev was then President for one four year term.

2012, Putin is back as President for his second (current) stint. If the terms were still for four years each, he would serve 2012-2016, then 2016 through 2020 before being term limited. That was my first thought.

But I was wrong. Beginning with Putin's term as President that began in 2012, each term is now six years each so this time around it is 2012-2018, then 2018-2024. He's still limited to two consecutive terms before needing a break, but his current term began in 2018 and does not end until 2024.

After 2024 he can take a break of some sort (perhaps being Prime Minister again) and then become President yet again. There is no limit on how many times a person can be president of Russia, they just can't serve more than two terms in a row. There is no limit on the number of non-consecutive terms.



ETA: The change from our year per term to six years per term was made in 2008, when Medvedev was President, but it was not enacted until the following term.

 

[Bob Klase]

Unnecessary post.

 

[timhau]

Didn't they do this before?

Russia has term limits, but they don't apply to non-consecutive terms.

Putin was President from 2000-2008, but was then term limited out.

Putin then became Prime Minister and Medvedev was President. During that period Putin had less political power than he previously had as President, but Medvedev himself had less authority has President than Putin had previously.

Officially, maybe. As the Russian joke from that period goes:

*beep* *beep*
"Hello. You have reached the office of Vladimir Medvedev, the President of the Russian Federation. To speak with President Medvedev, please press '2'."

 

[ahhell]

Didn't they do this before?

Russia has term limits, but they don't apply to non-consecutive terms.

Putin was President from 2000-2008, but was then term limited out.

Putin then became Prime Minister and Medvedev was President. During that period Putin had less political power than he previously had as President, but Medvedev himself had less authority has President than Putin had previously. That lasted from 2008-2012. One term.

Then they switched again, because the term limits don't apply to non-consecutive terms. Putin back as President and now has as much power as ever, Medvedev as Prime Minister has less than Putin had when Putin was Prime Minister.

Now Putin-as-president is being term limited again, so he is making preparations to become Prime Minister again - making that role more powerful, President less so.

Putin is still relatively young and healthy. He'll do another 4-year stint as Prime Minister, then switch back to being President again. At which point the Presidency will revert to having full powers again.


ETA: That's my take on it, at least. I'm not the expert in such things.

Probably right, I should have guessed as much.

 

[rockysmith76]

So that's second WW3 this week month ?

No a certain snowflake was hysterical and wrong.

 

[timhau]

ETA: The change from our year per term to six years per term was made in 2008, when Medvedev was President, but it was not enacted until the following term.

Now wasn't that a surprise.