Rice Criticizes Putin’s Grip on Power

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MOSCOW —President Putin’s concentration of power is stifling his country’s transition to democracy, Secretary of State Rice said today.

“In any country, if you don’t have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development,” Ms. Rice told reporters after meeting with human-rights activists.

“I think there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. I have told the Russians that. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary. There are clearly questions about the independence of the electronic media and there are, I think, questions about the strength of the Duma,” Ms. Rice, referring to the Russian parliament.

The top American diplomat encouraged the activists to build institutions of democracy. These would help combat arbitrary state power amid increasing pressure from the Kremlin, she said.

The American is concerned about the centralization of power and democratic backsliding ahead of Russia’s legislative and presidential elections in December and March. Ms. Rice sought opinions and assessments of the situation from eight prominent rights leaders.

“I talked to people about the coming months and how they see the coming months. How these two elections are carried out will have an effect on whether Russia is making the next step on toward democracy,” Ms. Rice said after the private sessions at Spaso House, the residence of the American ambassador in Moscow.

Ms. Rice and Defense Secretary Gates yesterday received a chilly reception from Mr. Putin and senior Russian officials on American proposals for cooperating on a missile defense system in Eastern Europe that Russia vehemently opposes.

But as she has in the past, Ms. Rice declined comment on Mr. Putin’s possible political future and said she did not raise the matter in her official discussions.

Mr. Putin will step down next year as president. He has said he would lead the ticket of the main pro-Kremlin party in the parliamentary elections and could take the prime minister’s job later. This has worried many democracy advocates.

Although she would not speculate about Mr. Putin’s ambitions, Ms. Rice said there were signs that whatever transition occurs could be smooth.

“To the degree that anyone can predict, it looks like it will be fairly stable,” she said. “But, I would just caution that change is change.”


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