Posted on 05/08/2008 9:46:48 AM PDT by The_Republican
SHORTLY AFTER being sworn in as Russian president yesterday, Dmitry Medvedev declared that "my most important task is to further develop civil and economic freedoms." Above all, said the 42-year-old former law professor, "we must achieve true respect for the law and end the legal nihilism that is seriously hindering modern development."
That was a remarkable statement under the circumstances. Mr. Medvedev, after all, owes his position to the "legal nihilism" of outgoing president Vladimir Putin, who grossly abused both the letter and the spirit of Russia's nominally democratic constitution to install a handpicked successor. Mr. Putin, who takes over the post of prime minister, accumulated a fortune estimated in the tens of billions while serving two terms as president. In recent weeks he has been twisting the law again to ensure that he will remain Russia's most potent leader.
Chances are that Mr. Medvedev's statement was no more creditable than Mr. Putin's own claim that the presidential transition was carried out "on the basis of strict observance of the laws and the principles of democracy." Still, it's not yet clear what the relationship between the new and old Russian presidents will be -- whether Mr. Medvedev will remain a puppet of Mr. Putin, or begin to assert his own agenda. For that reason, it's worth Western governments taking Mr. Medvedev at his word about his legalistic passion -- and suggesting some ways he might act on it.
To begin, Mr. Medvedev could be asked for action on the 14 unsolved murders of journalists during Mr. Putin's tenure -- such as that Anna Politkovskaya, in whose case suspects have been identified but never tried. Britain should invite the new president to cooperate in pressing Scotland Yard's charges against former KGB agent in the assassination of a Putin critic in London.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I started having doubts about this Medvedev guy long before he endorsed McCain from his Seattle based radio talk show. Now that he’s become president of Russia, I’m done with him.
He choose wisely.
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