tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654940.post6515332735593352325..comments2007-09-12T22:30:58.883+01:00Lyndonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09154874166149426406noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654940.post-2546385427106979372007-09-12T22:30:58.883+01:002007-09-12T22:30:58.883+01:00I actually thought it said more about Zubkov: not really important enough for Putin to make the announcement himself, let someone else do it. If Zubkov really were "the chosen one," no matter how dark a horse, you would think that VVP would have taken the time to anoint him himself...Rubashovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934030215369873201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654940.post-83417990550341219462007-09-12T19:56:13.290+01:002007-09-12T19:56:13.290+01:00Duma Speaker as Kremlin Spokesman - this tells you something about the division of powers under the system Putin has set up. I don't think it means anything vis-a-vis Gryzlov's future (though in a sense he would be the perfect faceless placeholder, if that's what VVP is looking for), IMO it says more about the Duma as a powerless appendage - a parrot, even - of the Kremlin.<BR/><BR/>But who knows? Russia is often prediction-proof, which is one of the reasons we so love watching it.Lyndonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09154874166149426406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8654940.post-28868184974129813342007-09-12T19:32:54.801+01:002007-09-12T19:32:54.801+01:00As long as we're reading tea leaves, how about this one:<BR/><BR/>"It was left to the speaker of the State Duma (parliament), Boris Gryzlov, to announce that Putin had nominated Viktor Zubkov, the 65-year-old head of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, as new prime minister."Rubashovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12934030215369873201noreply@blogger.com