February 24, 2004

Putin dismisses prime minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed his government in a live television broadcast.

The surprise move comes weeks before a presidential election which Mr Putin is expected to win by a landslide.
[...]
Analysts said Mr Putin's main target had almost certainly been Mr Kasyanov, but under the constitution he was unable to remove him without firing the entire cabinet.

Word from those who know is that Vlad should have waited until after he won the elections to have this hissy fit. (Like Richard Nixon did when he was re-elected in 1972.)
If Putin doesn't get at least 51% of the vote, he still may not win and now that Russia's election is shaping up to be pretty much like the one Iran just had, where the hard-liner gets a cursory nod from an oppressed electorate, many Russians are thinking about just staying home, just as the Iranians boycotted their sham poll.
Looks like democracy is taking some hard hits in Russia--if Putin brings back the red flag with the hammer and sicle and the Internationale as the national anthem, then we should really worry!