Coronation of “21st Century Czar” Takes Place Today

Russian President Vladimir Putin will begin his second term as president after his inauguration on Friday. Winning a landside victory in the presidential election on March and earning a second round of success, President Putin has consolidate his authority, and compared to the 2000 inauguration, he has reached the point of being called the “21st century czar.”

Coronation of Kaiser –

President Putin’s second inauguration will last a short hour but will be held in the most luxurious room in Kremlin, the Alekseev Hall, and the pompous event will resemble the coronation of Kaiser with 1,500 or so participants.

With his hand on top of the red cover of constitution book, President Putin will pledge and make his inauguration speech, mapping out the details of his second term.

President’s Potent Authority –

The Russian president is said to have the most powerful authority among all the rulers around the world who are elected. The president is entitled to appoint the three important positions, including not only the prime minister and Cabinet members, but also the chairman of Russian Central Bank (RCB) and the justices for the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.

If the parliament vetoes the prime minister appointee for three consecutive times, the parliament will be automatically dissolved. The president’s decree has the effect of a law. The president can declare martial law even at times of emergency and only has to notify the parliament.

The president can dispatch plenipotentiary, control the local government, and dismiss the local government’s authority upon violation of federal constitution.

“Nuclear bag” symbolizing powerful people in control over nuclear power always accompanies the president. The president has more than 2,000 presidential administrative (Security Council) staff members, 500 villas, and 37 private planes.

Stronger Authority –

President Putin, who started with a much larger opposition party in the first term of his presidency, even took control of the parliament in last December’s general election. He has also defeated the previous president Yeltsin’s older mainstream and the oligarchy power.

Through promulgation, the president also has made five key departments, including, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others, within the direct control of the president not the prime minister.

With President Putin having too much power, voices of concern on dictatorship also continue to rise despite political stability and economic growth,

Ki-Hyun Kim kimkihy@donga.com