RUSSIA'S NEW POWER CENTER
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin unveiled his new cabinet Monday, handing an influential role to a heavyweight economic liberal while keeping onboard several hard-liners who share his KGB background. As Andrew Osborn reports, analysts were divided on the reshuffle's significance. Some said it counted as a victory for liberals. Others said it carefully maintained a fragile balance between the two factions that has held since Mr. Putin took power in 2000. But they agreed that Mr. Putin was creating a new center of power to reflect his undisputed status as Russia's most powerful politician less than a week after he handed the presidency to his longtime aide Dmitry Medvedev.
"There are now two centers of power in Russia," said Alexei Makarkin, an analyst at the Center for Political Technologies, a Moscow political consultancy. "This means that everything will be decided through mutual agreement between the two centers.
"The new lineup was approved by Mr. Medvedev, who has remained in Mr. Putin's shadow since assuming office. On Monday, state television showed the two men meeting in the presidential office in the Kremlin; Mr. Putin occupied the chair he traditionally used when president, leaving the visitor's chair to Mr. Medvedev. Kremlin spokesman Alexander Smirnov said there was no definite protocol on seating arrangements and said it would be wrong to read too much into the seating.
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