Putin Names Cabinet Members

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

His early May reappointment of Dmitry Medvedev was hugely disappointing, an extremely unpopular figure in contrast to overwhelming public support for Putin. 

He's pro-Western, and dare I say a fifth columnist threat to Russian sovereign independence by seeking unattainable improved ties with Washington, perhaps willing to sacrifice plenty to get it.

He supports so-called "liberal" governance - what I call neoliberal harshness, benefitting privileged interests at the expense of most others, how the US and EU are deplorably run, how Washington wants all nations run, along with bending to its will overall.

Thankfully Putin didn't appoint fifth columnist Alexey Kudrin to what Russian analyst John Helmer called vice president for capitulation to the West - "the dominant policymaker…after Putin."

He'll head Russia's Accounts Chamber, serving as its state auditor and budget watchdog, a much less prominent position - with no influence over policymaking. 

Earlier reports suggested Sergey Lavrov would step down as foreign minister, serving in this capacity since 2004, a taxing position for anyone with constant travel and high-level missions at home and abroad.

He's staying at least for now. So is Defense Minister Sergey Shogui, a competent official, a publicly popular one, almost as popular as Putin, both officials widely trusted along with Sergey Lavrov.

Medvedev dismissed Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Space Industry Dmitry Rogozin, serving in this capacity since 2011.

Helmer said he was dismissed to remove a potential presidential aspirant when Putin's term expires in 2024, Medvedev wanting to succeed him again - a dismal prospect if things turn out this way.

Pro-Western Anton Siluanov remains Putin's finance minister, another disappointing decision. 

Along with Medvedev and others like them, they risk marginalizing Russian sovereign independence, a further risk of possibly yielding to Washington on Syria, Iran, and/or Donbass in pursuit of improved relations - unattainable short of submissiveness to its interests.

Putin's new cabinet includes 10 deputy prime ministers and 22 ministries, two more than earlier. Thirteen current ministers retained their posts.

Besides officials discussed above, I'm unfamiliar with other cabinet members so unable to judge if their appointments represent good or bad news for Russia.

More will be known as events unfold ahead. Hopefully good news will outweigh the bad.

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