Kommersant’s interlocutors at United Russia are confident that the new Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Mishustin, will not replace Dmitry Medvedev as party chairman after his transfer to work from the government to the Security Council. Moreover, a number of party interlocutors believe that Mr. Medvedev has new political prospects. However, there is no final clarity regarding the future future party of the former prime minister: on Thursday, the party members did not raise this issue during the Presidium of the General Council of United Russia.
Secretary of the General Council of United Russia Andrei Turchak said on Thursday in the State Duma that party chairman Dmitry Medvedev “remains” at his post: “There are no legislative restrictions on the appointment of the deputy chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and combining this position with the position of the chairman of a political party , does not exist. Dmitry Medvedev remained the chairman. ” However, the interlocutors of Kommersant on the sidelines of the Presidium are not sure that in the future the situation cannot change. Andrei Turchak himself did not answer the question of Kommersant whether Dmitry Medvedev would remain at the head of United Russia for a long time. At the same time, senior party interlocutors of Kommersant do not think that they can be headed by the new Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
The position of the deputy chairman of the Security Council on Thursday was recorded in the list of state posts: thus, Mr. Medvedev’s new work does not belong to the civil service, and there are no legal obstacles to Mr. Medvedev remaining at the head of the party.
On the other hand, a source close to the Kremlin believes that if the party is thinking about updating, it is logical for it to have a new chairman for the State Duma elections. Another interlocutor of Kommersant suggested that United Russia could do without a chairman. Even before the president’s message, a number of Kommersant’s interlocutors close to the party and the presidential administration stated that Mr. Medvedev’s anti-rating also affects the party’s position. It should be noted that the position of party chairman is stipulated in the charter of “United Russia”: it is established by the chairman of the party’s Supreme Council, and the party congress has the right to change the chairman. The powers may be laid down by the chairman himself.
Mr. Turchak said that Dmitry Medvedev talked with him and asked United Russia to support the candidacy of Mikhail Mishustin during a vote in the State Duma.
At the same time, the resignation of Mr. Medvedev was unexpected for United Russia. “I myself learned about this from the news,” says a senior deputy. The source of Kommersant, close to the presidential administration, also speaks about the unexpected resignation. Many of Kommersant’s interlocutors are inclined to believe that the very decision to resign the cabinet was made suddenly and, possibly, was due to disagreements in the preparation of the president’s message.
A senior United Russia party, in a conversation with Kommersant, said that now the new prospects are opening up for the former prime minister, as “the negative that accompanied him as prime minister will go away.” “Sometimes, to go up, you need to take a step to the side,” Kommersant’s interlocutor believes. According to him, Dmitry Medvedev can now lead the party to the polls, become the successor to the president or take any other position. “He’s the deputy of Vladimir Putin in the Security Council,” Kommersant’s interlocutor recalled.
The head of ISEPI Dmitry Badovsky believes that the president left Dmitry Medvedev in the political circuit of his team. The expert predicts that under the new conditions, Mr. Medvedev will intensify his party work, as his political prospects will depend on the results of United Russia in the next Duma elections. “At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that, following the results of the constitutional reform, and it will be quite fleeting, other career paths will open for Medvedev,” the expert concludes. Political consultant Leonid Davydov believes that Dmitry Medvedev intends to remain in politics and continue to play a significant role in it: “And for the party, this is certainly not worse than it was.” According to Mr. Davydov, the time has come for public policy, and it is unpredictable: “On the topic of attacks on Dmitry Medvedev, I think that those who have buried and bury him now know less about his future than they knew before.”
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