Yuri Luzhkov, ex-Mayor of Moscow

[August1991]

Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkovs 19-year tenure at City Hall is at an end.

The long-awaited news was finally confirmed on Tuesday morning with Luzhkov arriving in his office at 7:55 am to find president Dmitry Medvedev's order on his desk.

There are two options for a head of region to leave their position ahead of time: they can leave voluntarily a resignation letter, or with a more harsh wording about the loss of confidence. The mayor returned from his holiday yesterday, and today the president signed the decree. You can draw the conclusions yourself, said the president's press-secretary Natalya Timakova.

Link

I'd keep an eye on this one. There's the potential that it could get ugly.

I mean, is Luzhkov's wife fired too?

Edited September 28, 2010 by August1991

[Michael Hardner]

Link

I'd keep an eye on this one. There's the potential that it could get ugly.

I mean, is Luzhkov's wife fired too?

Not sure why this is significant, nor do I understand the reference to his wife ?

[nicky10013]

Not sure why this is significant, nor do I understand the reference to his wife ?

His wife is a construction magnate. She's the richest woman in Russia and is quite corrupt. This is a big deal because it was widely speculated that Luzhkov was, even above Putin, the most powerful person in Russia for two reasons. 1) Moscow is easily the most important city in Russia. You control Moscow, you can control anything 2) he was a leader of United Russia, which currently has a supermajority in the Russian Duma. What that means is they have 75% of the seats and can pass constitutional changes with impunity.

The Economist is saying that this is Medvedev trying to prove he's an independent ruler, but he really doesn't do anything without Putin's approval. Luzhkov was never really a threat to Putin since he was so supportive, but he did have a lot of power. I see it as more of putting someone in that powerful position who will do whatever he says.

[RNG]

A BBC news website Banner says that he is considering appealing. But I also remember from the original story that he is 74 years old.

Don't know about the appeal thing, he might be risking a fatal accident.

I spent 6 weeks in a small city in northern Russia in 2002, Uhkta. It was so exciting then. The people, with the exception of a few older folks and some ne'er-do-well types just loved all the changes. They didn't have the toys and the wealth that we do but for about 5 or so years, each year was way better for them and the prospects were for this to continue for a long time. Much of Putin's changes in the past 5 years or so has eroded that according to a friend I made there with whom I exchange e-mails.

[nicky10013]

A BBC news website Banner says that he is considering appealing. But I also remember from the original story that he is 74 years old.

Don't know about the appeal thing, he might be risking a fatal accident.

I spent 6 weeks in a small city in northern Russia in 2002, Uhkta. It was so exciting then. The people, with the exception of a few older folks and some ne'er-do-well types just loved all the changes. They didn't have the toys and the wealth that we do but for about 5 or so years, each year was way better for them and the prospects were for this to continue for a long time. Much of Putin's changes in the past 5 years or so has eroded that according to a friend I made there with whom I exchange e-mails.

He can't appeal. A few years ago, Putin changed the constitution. All municipal positions are appointed from the Kremlin. The presidency is also the supreme court. All constitutional issues are ruled upon by the President. Luzhkov is out.

[Internative]

The only problem of Rusia is, that the russians need to be ruled by someone. They need a powerful man, who reigns and rules. Like tzars in the past Russia, than by communist time, and now they have become a new tzar- Putin. Russians are not an independent nation, they can't exist without a strong power. And what concerns Lugkov, he has become too powerful and dangerous for the other polititians, and his wife was coronated to the reachest and powerful women of Russia. That is mot normaly. And that' s why Lugkov is out. Everything has its end.