Kremlin fires iconic Moscow mayor after 18 years

AP via Yahoo News ^ | 09/27/10 | DAVID NOWAK and JIM HEINTZ

[Enchante]

MOSCOW – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday fired Yury Luzhkov, ending the 18-year rule of the Moscow mayor who gave the crumbling metropolis a glamorous facelift but was maligned for outdated values and bellicose posturing.

Medvedev signed a decree relieving the 74-year-old mayor of his duties due to the president's "loss of confidence" in him, according to the Kremlin website.

[Enchante]

some strange kind of banana republic dictatorship, where the Mayor of the national capital can be "fired" without an election

maybe the guy needed firing, I have no idea, but seems like it should be up to a vote of the citizens, not the dictate of the dictatorship

[Celtic Conservative]

I listened to a story about this on the BBC world service. Apparently the mayor offended "dear leader Putin" by criticizing the standing government. Apparently the Moscow mayor serves at the pleasure of the president (it's in their constitution).

CC

[Cheburashka]

Apparently the mayor offended “dear leader Putin” by criticizing the standing government. Apparently the Moscow mayor serves at the pleasure of the president (it's in their constitution).

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I've heard that Luzhkov is Putin's man, and that this may be the opening bell in the May, 2012 Presidential election race between Medvedev and Putin.

(The Russian Constitution allows the President no more than two terms in succession. This means that while Putin could not not run again in 2008, he can run again in 2012. The equivalent would be if our Constitution said that George Bush couldn't run again in 2008, but could run again in 2012.)

There has always been a question about whether Medvedev would step aside in 2012 and not oppose Putin's election in that year. This firing may be the first indication that the answer to that question is “Nyet”.

[Tailgunner Joe]

This is how KGB Incorporated pays back its friends, by stabbing them in the back. Just look at the Kremlin campaign now to unseat Moscow's slavish lapdog Lukashenko in Belarus. Both campaigns were carried out by a Gazprom owned TV station. This is the price of appeasement. Nazi Russians like Vlad Zhirinovsky are delighted by these events.

[Celtic Conservative]

That does make sense, thanks for the clarification. Perhaps you are right, Medvedev intends to be his own man.

CC

[vertolet888]

==some strange kind of banana republic dictatorship, where the Mayor of the national capital can be “fired” without an election==

By the Russian Constitution, the largest cities Moscow (population ~10 mln) and St.Petersburg (~5.5 mln) have the status of a region. Thus the mayor of Moscow is like a governor and can be “fired” by the president of Russia.

This is a disputable question.
Many Russian politicians suggest to divide the mayor’s post into two positions: Moscow governor (a rather political figure) and city-manager (a pure manager).