Now that things have settled down and the fires are being extinguished, the fog is lifting, it is time to assign the blame to the local politicians, that they have so well earned. These officials either failed to prepare properly or failed to act intelligently for the public good.
As the federal officials rush to rebuild villages, in record time, replacing old wooden construction with new modern European houses, it came to air that some of the local authorities are at it again: stealing funds. Prime Minister Putin was caught on video by journalists, loosing his legendary cool, as he berated several officials who claimed their people, in their districts, had no complaints or wants.
Still, of all the officials on the oblast (province) level, non are so famous as the Moscow Mayor, Uri Luzkov. Luzkov and his family are a political and economic force to be reckoned with and in many ways feared. However, his performance, or rather the lack of, during this crisis, may have finally broken the political portion of his power.
Luzkov, in the middle of the worst heat wave in 200 years, with people collapsing left and right, took off to the provinces, to save his bees, on his estate. When it was discovered, by local journalists, that the mayor of Moscow was missing and on vacation, an embarrassed Luzkhov returned.
Now, a month after the disasters, various points are coming to light, displaying the corruption that has brewed in recent years under his rule. For example, NTV channel brought up the fact that Luzkov's administration spent 105 million rubles on invalids, helping with air conditioning centers and 256 million to save the honey bees.
This revelation, in turn, has unleashed a pent up wave of allegations of corruption and cronyism against him. Channel One aired a story about the insane costs of road construction, in Moscow, where the vast majority of the funds go directly into the pockets of Luzkov's friends and families. In one 500m project, the average price was 10 million rubles per meter. Like wise, Channel Rassia discussed the thousand buildings in Moscow that were demolished, many with historic significance, to make way for pet construction projects and special deals for insiders.
Luzkov has to be given credit for his work to rebuild Moscow, he has done a lot to push Moscow into the list of global metropolises. However, his recent years have been of stagnation and corruption. Its time to leave, bow out with grace and be remembered for something else.
3 comments:
Mat,
What do you think of Putin? He's seen by many Westerners to be authoritarian and slightly dangerous. But from what I have seen he is a capable and decent man. I understand he's widely respected in Russia, so I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.
When will you tackle Putin's corruption and KGB restoration?
Russia can never fulfill its enormous potential relying on the feudal repression organizations, like the KGB/FSB and all the other soup agencies.
@UBN
I like Putin. He turned the nation around. If anything, he hasn't been strict enough.
Westerners, living under their own police state need the elite fed propaganda to keep themselves feeling good about themselves, since that is about all they have left.
Putin has turned the economy around, limited abortion, put a lot of criminals in jail. He brought Christian education back to the schools. He's broken the army of Jihadists. Sure there are still incidents but they are just that, not military coordinated actions and offensives.
The "tyrant" brough trail by jury, regulated property rights (where there were none), low taxation, protectionist mercantalistic tariffs that have brought hundreds of thousands of jobs to Russia.
Heck, in Russia the government now encourages the citizens to video tape the police and gov chenovniks (100,000 of whom are being cut) to catch corruption, while in the US and UK it is being made a criminal offense.
Most conservatives in the West would wet their panties to have such a candidate, but they have to make him into a Baba Yaga to make themselves feel better that they are stuck with absolute sell outs.
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