Russia entered the post-Putin period.

Young people waved flags and stood in front CFP/ Putin’s large portrait with the words "Happy Birthday" written on it.

　　　　Since the replacement of the Russian Prime Minister in September, speculations have been triggered one after another. Some commentators believe that these changes mark that Russia has actually moved towards the post-Putin period.

　　　　What does a series of changes in Russian political situation mean? What will be the next step? What does this mean for China? Around these issues, Southern Weekend reporter interviewed Yu Sui, a member of the research and consulting group of the International Liaison Department of the CPC Central Committee, a researcher at the Center for Contemporary World Studies in China and an academician of the International Academy of Natural and Social Sciences.

　　　　Ensure that Putin continues to exert influence.

　　　　Southern Weekend: Russia’s political situation has been changing constantly recently, which is directly related to next year’s presidential election and Putin’s future role in the country. As an important neighbor of China, its political situation has evolved into China’s concern. As an expert who has worked in the front line for a long time, could you please talk about it?

　　　　Yu Sui: The dramatic political change in Russia recently was the reorganization of the government in September. This step is undoubtedly related to who plays the leading role in the national political situation in 2008. Make a few comments.

　　　　First, this move is not brought about by the usual political chaos, but an important step to consider how to maintain the momentum of Russia’s revitalization.

　　　　Second, from the perspective of choosing a successor, Putin must at least have several "guarantees".

　　　　First of all, we must ensure the continuation of Putin’s line. Putin’s route consists of three parts:

　　　　The first is the chosen development path. This is: "controllable democracy" with the basic goal of maintaining political stability and social harmony; A social market economy characterized by paying attention to efficiency and giving consideration to fairness; All-round diplomacy with "balance" as the basic guiding principle.

　　　　The second is the determined strategy of governing the country. This is: taking national interests as the core, strengthening the country and enriching the people as the mission, taking economic development as the premise, taking the national spirit as the driving force, relying on a strong political power, uniting the whole society as the means, taking historical lessons as a mirror, choosing the road suitable for our national conditions as the direction, optimizing the external environment as the condition, and aiming at revitalizing the status of a big country. The third is pragmatism. That is, the three main ideological trends in Russian society-liberalism, socialism and nationalism-are integrated and chosen, and they are applied to the economic, political and diplomatic fields with emphasis.

　　　　Second, we must ensure political stability and sustained economic development. Under the condition that Putin himself says that he will continue to exert influence on the country’s political life after leaving office, both Zubcov and Ivanov will ensure this.

　　　　Finally, it is necessary to ensure that Putin can continue to exert influence in Russian political life.

　　　　Thirdly, First Deputy Prime Minister Ivanov said that Zubcov’s replacement of Fradkov as prime minister indicated that "the country has entered a new political period", which some Russian observers called "Putin-Zubcov period". Personally, I think that the "new political period" can be understood as follows: first, Putin will leave the presidency and a new person will be the head of state; Second, a new political period in which Putinism will be recognized and developed; Third, Putin himself will continue to play a role in different ways in the new political period.

　　　　Southern Weekend: On October 1st, Putin announced that he would lead the United Russia Party to participate in the State Duma election on December 2nd, and at the same time he would not be a member of this party. He also agreed with the call for him to run for prime minister in the United Russia Party, the current political party. Moreover, the situation seems to be still evolving. What do you think of this trend and evolution?

　　　　Yu Sui: At the beginning, when considering Putin’s stay, there was such an arrangement plan in Russia: that is, from the existing presidential system to the presidential parliamentary system, the prime minister became the highest executive head of the country and the president became a national symbol; At the same time, since he is the head of the cabinet, of course, he can also serve as the leader of the political party United Russia. Through these two ways, Putin will continue to play a leading role in the Russian political situation. Now it seems that the political situation is obviously evolving in this direction, but this should be done by amending the constitution.

　　　　In fact, not only Russia, but also some republics of the former Soviet Union are brewing this method, such as Kazakhstan, because the domestic political situation in these countries was chaotic at that time and they needed a powerful figure to lead them, so the presidential system was just the right time; Now, because the situation has gradually stabilized, everyone has begun to brew a change to the presidential parliamentary system.