The Russian President said he does not exclude that more untrustworthy regional leaders may be sacked like Yury Luzhkov, who has been fired on Tuesday.
The reason for Luzhkov’s dismissal as stated in the presidential decree was “loss of confidence by the President of Russia.”
“Today is the first time I use such wording, but I don’t exclude that it can happen again. It all depends on the particular situation,” Dmitry Medvedev said in Shanghai, commenting on his decision for the journalists.
“It is hard to imagine a governor [continuing to work] – with Russia’s highest official, the president, not trusting him. That’s what happened,” the president said.
The Russian leader didn’t elaborate on possible sackings, leaving the media to speculate over whom of the top officials may fall out of grace next, if any.
Medvedev did not mention anything about the person to replace Luzhkov. He noted that the acting mayor Vladimir Resin, who was one of Luzhkov’s deputies, is “an experienced man, who will maintain governance,” of the city for a while.
According to Russian legislation, the party holding the majority of seats in the Moscow city parliament will now submit several candidatures for Medvedev to choose from. The parliament is to approve his choice afterwards.
Speaking to the media, Medvedev also spoke on his other recent decision – to reform Russia’s prosecution system. The president wants it to go as smooth as possible.
“I would like the reform to go steadily, and that is why I have not set the final configuration yet.”
The major thing to decide is whether the future Investigative Committee, which will soon be made into a body separate from the General Prosecutor’s Office, should incorporate investigative departments of other ministries and agencies.