Maxim Glikin
Spotlight of the week
Those television viewers who did not see Vladimir Putin's question-and-answer session from the very start might have thought that they had gone back a year. It all looked like the national leader was answering questions from people who had elected him. There was not a hint that he has changed his position. Only those who saw the session to the end finally heard that there exists President Dmitry Medvedev.
Putin had reasons to recall his immediate boss - many questions were about the military reform and foreign policy. He could have made a reservation that this is the prerogative of the supreme commander-in-chief and the President, but he did not. Moreover, he evinced in-depth knowledge of these subjects, and even acted as a newsmaker by saying that warrant officers will not be dismissed against their will.
Speaking about the war in the Caucasus, relations with the United States, and military bases in Venezuela and on Cuba, he never mentioned that Medvedev made the decisions, or that at least they made them together. He mentioned how effective the tandem was only talking to journalists after the end of the session.
This session did not differ much from previous sessions. This time it was shown only by the Rossiya Channel rather than all national channels. United Russia's public reception offices took part in the preparation, and for the first time he spoke in Gostiny Dvor.
Otherwise, the session was the same as all previous ones but longer. It seemed as though the prime minister missed talking to his people, and that only minor formalities prevented him from holding the session earlier (official commentators have so far avoided saying what prevented President Medvedev from touching base with the nation on such a scale).
Yet, it was clear that this was a different Putin, especially at the start. He floundered, faltered, and was tense.
The session looked like an orchestrated and rehearsed event, which had no room for any off-hand remarks or liberties.
Maybe this was so because before he had a growing economy behind him whereas now the economy is sinking.
Before, he spoke about successes, now he explained how to deal with problems. Before, he was the nation's legitimate leader, whereas this time he played the first fiddle while being second-in-command. This was an unusual role for Putin.
