| MOSCOW -- President Vladimir V. Putin demanded a sweeping
overhaul of
Russia's political system Monday, including an end to the direct popular
election of governors and changes in elections for the Russian parliament,
saying the moves were needed to combat terrorism.
If enacted, as expected, his proposals would strengthen the Kremlin's
already pervasive control over the legislative branch and regional
governments.
Putin, meeting in special session with Cabinet ministers and regional
government leaders, outlined what would be the most significant political
restructuring in Russia in more than a decade -- one that critics
immediately said would violate the constitution and stifle what political
opposition remains.
Under Putin's proposals, which he said required only legislative approval
and not constitutional amendments, the governors or presidents of the
country's 89 regions would no longer be elected by popular vote but rather
by local parliaments -- and only on the president's recommendation.
Seats in the lower house of the federal parliament, or Duma, would be
elected entirely on national party slates, eliminating district races
across
the country that now decide half of the parliament's composition. In last
December's elections, those races accounted for all of the independents
and
liberals now serving in the Duma.
In the wake of the school siege in Beslan, the downing of two passenger
airlines and other terrorist attacks that have shaken the country, Putin
argued once again that Russia was ill-prepared to fight terrorism and
said
the country needed a more unified political system.
Executive branch
His proposals, however, made clear that for him unity means a consolidation
of power in the executive branch.
"Those who inspire, organize and carry out terrorist acts are striving
to
disintegrate the country," Putin said in remarks that the state TV
channels
rebroadcast repeatedly, in their entirety, through the day and evening.
"They strive for the breakup of the state, for the ruin of Russia.
I am sure
that the unity of the country is the main prerequisite for victory over
terror."
Across the short spectrum of political opposition in Russia, reactions
ranged from stunned disbelief to helpless anger.
Sergei S. Mitrokhin, a
leader of the liberal Yabloko party, said they represented "the elimination
of the last links in a system of checks and balances."
Gennady A. Zyuganov, the leader of the main opposition party, the
Communists, called the proposals "ill-conceived."
Mikhail M. Zadornov, an
independent deputy who was elected from a district in southern Moscow
last year, said that rather than unifying Russians against terror, the
proposals would simply disenfranchise them from politics and the state.
"All these measures," he said, "mean we are coming back
to the U.S.S.R."
Putin also proposed the unification of counterterrorism efforts in a
single
agency, citing the examples of "a whole number of countries which
have been
confronted with the terrorist threat." That appeared to be a reference
to
such agencies as the Department of Homeland Security in the United States
--
which some here have said Russia should emulate -- but Putin did not provide
any details.
Putin also called for banning "extremist organizations using religious,
nationalistic and any other phraseology as cover" and tougher penalties
for
crimes committed by terrorists, even minor ones. He used as an example
a
false passport that could be used to evade police.
The electoral changes require the approval of parliament, but the party
loyal to Putin, United Russia, controls more than two-thirds of the 450
seats so that is almost a foregone conclusion.
Mitrokhin said that while Putin's proposals "contradict the letter
and the
spirit of the constitution," challenges to them would be futile.
"Unfortunately," he said, "in Russia there is no independent
parliament and
no independent judiciary."
About 430 people have been killed in attacks in Russia over the past
three
weeks, including 330 in the bloody end to the school siege in Beslan in
southern Russia. More than half the dead at the school were children.
Ninety
people died when suspected Chechen women suicide bombers blew up of two
Russian airliners in flight.
Appointing governors
But the Russian leader's proposals focused largely on electoral changes,
including having the governors appointed. Putin said that change was needed
to streamline and strengthen the executive branch to better combat terror.
Since taking office in 1999, Putin has constantly worked to rein in
the
governors. He has removed them from Russia's upper house of parliament,
appointing seven regional envoys to monitor them.
"Tuesday, all the power agencies that are supposed to fight terrorism
are
subordinated directly to the president. ... It's incomprehensible why
on top
of that he has to name governors," Mitrokhin, of the liberal Yabloko
party,
told Russia's Ekho Moskvy radio. "It shows that the president doesn't
know
what to do, he's at a loss."
Vladimir Ryzhkov, one of the few opposition deputies in the State Duma,
scorned the president's political proposals and warned that the next
election would produce a Duma of "marionette party lists ... [that]
won't
enjoy any authority."
Russians, however, feel that the elected governors and legislators are
even
more corrupt than Communist administrators in Soviet times.
They also have traditionally clamored for a firm hand to restore order
and
now want action against terrorism, often telling journalists that terrorist
attacks would never have happened under the late dictator Joseph Stalin.
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