Stop the Untouchables. Justice for Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia’s Medvedev seeks new lease of life as PM

Reuters

By Alexei Anishchuk
MOSCOW | Fri May 4, 2012 12:42pm BST
(Reuters) – Dmitry Medvedev has a chance to prove he is more than just Vladimir Putin’s sidekick when he becomes Russia’s prime minister next week, but expectations are low after he failed to deliver much of what he promised as president.

When he took over the presidency from Putin in 2008, he talked of enacting sweeping reform, but his four years in the Kremlin – which end on Monday when Putin is sworn in as head of state – turned out to be heavy on rhetoric and light on deeds.

Switching Russia to permanent daylight savings time was his only real achievement, his critics say, and he is widely mocked on social networking sites about everything from his height and dress sense to his policies and perceived weakness.

In a leaked U.S. diplomatic cable, he even suffered the indignity of being described as playing Robin to Putin’s Batman.

Medvedev has promised to push an ambitious agenda as prime minister too, a role he will be confirmed in by parliament on Tuesday. Pension reform, ending poverty and corruption, less red tape, better state governance and modernisation are among the priorities he has identified.

But the Russian public, increasingly tired of having the same faces in power, is sceptical.