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Russian President Medvedev: Excessive Power Â«DangerousÂ»

14 May 2011 04:08 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says excessive concentration of power is dangerous, in what is seen as possible criticism of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, APA reports quoting â€œThe Voice of Americaâ€.
Speaking in the central Russian city of Kostroma Friday, Mr. Medvedev came out against what he called a political system tailored to one individual. He did not mention the prime minister by name.
Earlier this month, Mr. Putin proposed creating a broad political front around his United Russia party in preparation for December’s parliamentary election. That vote is seen as a preview of the presidential election set for June 2012.
The president said such a concentration of power had happened repeatedly in Russia and led to stagnation or civil war, and warned that it could happen again.
The 45-year-old Mr. Medvedev was Mr. Putin’s hand-picked successor to become president in 2008, when the 58-year-old Mr. Putin was forced to step down after serving the maximum two terms. Mr. Putin is seen as the politically dominant of the two.
Both men previously said they would decide between them who would run for the presidency in the 2012 vote to avoid competing against each other. But so far, neither man has ruled out running.
Mr. Medvedev’s possible criticism of his mentor appears to indicate a widening divide between the two men, who have worked together closely for more than two decades.
That changed earlier this year, when Mr. Medvedev clashed with Mr. Putin for criticizing Western military intervention in Libya, and then ordered several Putin allies to leave the boards of state companies.