Fri Mar 5, 6:05 PM ET
By MARA D. BELLABY, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW - When President Vladimir Putin announced his choice for the nation's No. 2 job, the Russian media seized on the mysterious, one-year gap in Mikhail Fradkov's resume that seemed to hint at a secret KGB background.
They weren't looking for a scandal, however.
They wanted to know if this portly career bureaucrat, who was approved as prime minister Friday by the Russian parliament, was really one of Putin's men — the former spies and military officers who swept in on his coattails more than four years ago and hold a quarter of the nation's top political jobs.
Putin, who is expected to easily win a second term in the March 14 election, has packed his government with "men with epaulettes." But whereas previously these men tended to focus on national security, now they hold decision-making jobs in practically every sector — from the economy to the courts to media oversight, said Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a sociologist who conducted a groundbreaking study of Russia's ruling elite.
They serve as regional envoys, Cabinet members, deputy ministers, presidential advisers and lawmakers. Some even retain their status as "active reserve officers," reporting to both their former spy agency bosses and their new department heads.
"With such big growth ... one has to ask why ... and what this means," Kryshtanovskaya said.
Critics say the rise of ex-service and military people known as "siloviki," who value loyalty and discipline and tolerate little dissent, has left the nation in the grip of authoritarianism, turning back the clock to Soviet times. They point to the crackdown on Russia's independent media, the weakening of parliament and opposition parties, strong nationalistic rhetoric and calls for the renationalization of natural resources as examples of siloviki influence.
Proponents, however, note that Soviet-era spies were highly educated and often more broadminded; unlike most segments of Soviet society, they had access to the West. Additionally, the security sector's focus on order, the rule of law and a resurgent Russia appeals to average citizens, tired of the chaos, upheaval and humiliations suffered after the Soviet collapse.
"Most importantly, the siloviki did not take part in Boris Yeltsin's government, and look what happened — it was awful for the country," said Sergei Markov, director of the Institute of Political Research think tank. "Now the siloviki are playing a role, and it is being welcomed because people want more order, meaning rule of law. They want less anarchy, they want the country to maintain its sovereignty, less corruption."
Analysts are divided over how much influence the siloviki have. Boris Makarenko, a top political researcher for the Center for Political Technologies, an independent think tank, said he doubts that these government newcomers operate as "a unified political group."
"Of course, there has been a greater influx of people with backgrounds in the army and security services, but I suspect the main impact is a less open, more bureaucratic and more conservative government," he said.
The shift to a more militarized government became inevitable, experts said, after the main security agencies were broken apart into nearly 20 different bodies with the Soviet Union's collapse, all requiring representatives in government. Putin took the process further.
"He wanted to consolidate his power, so he leaned on those he knew from the special services," Kryshtanovskaya said. "They, in turn, brought their friends and it spread."
According to her analysis, nearly 60 percent of the people closest to the president and in the powerful Security Council come from security or military backgrounds. Some 35 percent of the deputy ministers appointed between 2000 and 2003 were siloviki. The Justice Ministry had four, while Trade Minister German Gref, a favorite with liberals, had three.
And when Putin divided the nation into seven regional districts in a move to rein in unruly governors, siloviki were named to head five of them.
Putin's decision Monday to name the little known Fradkov as prime minister raised questions about where he fit in. The Russian media and political observers pointed to the missing year between Fradkov's 1972 graduation from a machine-building school and his plush foreign assignment at the Soviet Embassy in India. It hinted, they said, of a secret stint of KGB training. The popular daily Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper declared him "a secret silovik."
But Fradkov, a former chief of the tax police, also has liberal economic credentials, and by choosing him Putin rejected more obvious siloviki candidates.
"Putin is certainly obliged to the siloviki but, he doesn't want to stand too dependent on them," said analyst Masha Lipman of the Carnegie Endowment, suggesting that Fradkov's selection may be an attempt by Putin to retain independence as he enters his expected second term.
Kryshtanovskaya said "Putin was probably surprised" by her analysis of how his presidency had transformed the political elite. "I'm sure he had never stopped to count just how big the numbers of siloviki were," she said.
Fri Mar 5, 4:37 PM ET
PARIS (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac backed Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in his opposition to a US initiative for political and economic reform in the Middle East, saying the plan amounted to "interference".
The two held talks after Mubarak arrived in Paris earlier Friday as part of a three-nation tour designed to warn key European partners of the dangers of the "Greater Middle East" initiative.
The US plan aims to encourage democratic and economic reform in the authoritarian Arab world and other Muslim countries in a bid to deprive international extremists of the reservoir of frustration and poverty they thrive on for support.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which are both allies of the United States, have criticized the initiative, fearing Washington wants to impose its own cultural models on the region.
"We support modernisation which comes as a result of consultations, cooperation between states," Chirac told a news conference. "On the other hand, we think that nothing can be imposed. In other words, modernisation yes, interference no."
Mubarak arrived from Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also agreed no solution could be imposed on the region from outside.
"The countries concerned must be directly involved in the evolution of any initiative," concerning the 'Greater Middle East'," Berlusconi said after meeting Mubarak late Thursday.
Berlusconi's statement marks a change in the Italian position compared to its earlier pronouncements.
The Egyptian leader is due to continue his campaign against the US plan by visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Saturday.