Vedomosti: "Putin playing his old part"
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made only one reference to President Dmitry Medvedev during his three hour question and answer session.
Many questions from the audience concerned presidential competences-foreign policy, hostilities and military reform. Mr Putin does not rule out his return to presidency in 2012.
Though a majority of questions concerned social and economic themes, many raised foreign political issues. Mr Putin said that it was up to the Georgian people themselves to "make the decision regarding the responsibility" of President Mikheil Saakashvili and that "Russia would have continued to work towards the territorial reintegration of Georgia" if not for its invasion of South Ossetia, which resulted in independence. He also mentioned "positive signals" from the new US Administration as "both Ukraine and Georgia have been denied a NATO Membership Action Plan".
It was understandable why he was talking foreign policy-the West regards Mr Putin as a sort of Senior President and actually deals with him more than with President Dmitry Medvedev, Fyodor Lukyanov, Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs magazine, explains.
Mr Putin also said that the Russian Navy did not need permanent overseas bases though warships might use foreign ports. Igor Korotchenko of the Defence Ministry Public Council thinks Russia might resume the Soviet practice of submarine crews taking leave in Cuba. He deems it convenient if Russia builds up its submarine presence in the Atlantic.
President Medvedev's name came up only once during the Q&A session in the context of his initiative for prolonging the presidential term to six years. Mr Putin gave the reform a new substantiation: "Six years of presidency is a reasonable term in a country with such a problematic ethnic composition," and went on to refer to Finland, with its six-year presidential term-he chose not to specify that Finland was a parliamentary republic.
When Mr Putin was addressing journalists after the live broadcast, one of them asked him whether he would seek another presidential term. The Prime Minister replied that the next elections would take place in 2012: "Let's make it to that time, and then decide." He referred to the same elections when asked about prospects for Cabinet resignation.
Political analyst Dmitry Badovsky points out an essential reservation Mr Putin made when asked whether he would dismiss any ministers: "I don't think there is a need to do anything of the kind now." The expert thinks the Prime Minister meant that it was too early to forecast what turn the crisis might take, and made it understood that an improvement would come in 2010 and pre-term elections were pointless before then.
President Medvedev has not yet faced the nation. A Kremlin spokesman says the live presidential question and answer format was introduced for Mr Putin alone, and Medvedev will talk to the population on the Internet-most likely, in the spring.
Programme organisers have shown Putin as a "co-regent Prime Minister", political expert Alexei Makarkin remarks.
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Helping Hand Proffered to Warrant Officers
The Defence Ministry has announced that it will abolish the institution of army and navy warrant officers. There are 140,000 in active service presently. As the ministry has not provided any details, the military think they are in for mass layoffs that will result in a shortage of technicians. Mr Putin explained: "As for warrant officers, we will stop training them, but those who wish to continue serving in that rank will be able to do so."
Maxim Glikin, Natalya Kostenko and Alexei Nikolsky
