Shift in political epochs

An 'outsider' takes Chuba's post
Outsiders are not welcomed in the Southern Russia and that is why there
are not many of them in high posts. The deputy representatives in the
South and North Caucasus Federal Districts can't be taken into
account. Meanwhile, there are exceptions. The representatives of
Karachay-Cherkessia appealed to Alexander Khloponin in March of this
year to remove Boris Ebzeev, a Karachay by origin, as the region's
head, and appoint a "Russian". Later rumors began to seep out that the
premier's post of Karachay-Cherkessia will take a staffer of
"Vneshekonombank" Alexei Kindarov. (See VK article for more
information (http://www.vestikavkaza.ru/articles/politika/karachayevo-cherkessk/19757.html).
Nevertheless, if an outsider is appointed to this post, it could
dramatize the situation in the region, in which most of the conflicts
have national background. The evidence for dislike of the "Varagians"
(outsiders) in the Caucasus and Southern Russia is the tribulations of a team formed by
South Ossetian premier Vladimir Borovtsev.
(http://www.vestikavkaza.ru/articles/ekonomika/invest/19080.html.)
The main political intrigue of recent years, the resignation of the
61-year old governor of the Rostov Region, Vladimir Chub, who had
headed the region since 1991, has reached its outcome. He will be
replaced with a politician from the Moscow region. Last Friday
deputies of the regional parliament invested in Vasily Golubev the
powers of governor.
Taking into account the current political environment and the fact
that 45 parliamentarians out of 50 are members of United Russia, the
voting was a formal procedure. And so 43 deputies voted for Golubev
and only 5 communists voted against him.
The choice of governor was submitted for consideration to the regional
parliament in May, after the General Council of United Russia provided
Dmitry Medvedev with a list of three candidates, including Golubev.
Then governor of the Rostov region Chub was not in the list, which
caused bemusement among local political experts, notwithstanding the
fact that he was considered to be one of the last political veterans.
During recent years, experts predicted his resignation more than once.
Usually it happened just before big changes in the political life of
the region. But contrary to the forecasts of political analysts and
journalists, the head of the region kept his post. His resignation was
a hot issue in the region last year, before the governor hit 60.
Moreover his appointment to the Federal Council on the implementation
of the perspective national projects in the sphere of demography was
received as a build-up for his resignation.
But taking into account the length of Chub's governance and his
health, a change was inevitable. According to political analyst
Vasilii Petrov, Chub remained in power for so long due to powerful
administrative resources, which he created during his reign. Nowadays
there are no laymen in the regional administration - most of the local
top officials had ties with Chub in the past. He has also moved the
opposition and all those who could compete with him for the post to
the outposts of political life. However there were no reasons for his
resignation, since the social and political situation in the Rostov
region had the Kremlin's approval.
Commenting on the absence of his name in the list of candidates, Chub
said: "I've been working in this post for four terms...That is why I've
made a conscious choice and appealed to the general council of United
Russia with a request to include me in the list of candidates for the
post of governor." He also added during the years of his governance
the region has developed its industry and a new generation of
professional politicians has been created.
Earlier Rostov political analysts expected 48-year old vice governor
Sergei Nazarov to take the post, but as they later commented the
situation, Nazarov was not as big enough public figure to attract the
Kremlin's attention.
The main advantage of Nazarov was a dislike of outsiders in the Rostov
region. Anyway it is barely possible to call 53-year old Golubev an
outsider. He was born in a family of miners in the village of
Ermakovskaya in the Tatsinskii region. Golubev later moved to the
Moscow region where he began his political career. In 1991, he took
charge of the Leninskii region and in 1999 became a vice-governor of
the Moscow region. In 2003 he took up the post of the head of the
Leninskii region again. One more argument for the appointment of "a
local politician" was the stable economic and political situation in
the region. Local political analysts Grigorii Bochkarev in
conversation with a VK correspondent said it is likely that the new
governor will purge the local administration and appoint loyal people.
At the same time he has to be careful, since abrupt moves may cause
resistance among the local political elite.
Golubev promised not to make dramatic changes in the government,
though he has not excluded the possibility of rearrangements. It is
worth mentioning that not a single local politician was opposed to
Golubev. Even the Communist's bloc voted against the new procedures of
governor appointment, which has substituted public voting. The
inauguration of a new governor will be held on June 14.
Alexander Vladimirov, Rostov-na-Donu. Exclusively for VK.