Why Vladimir Putin? Tatiana Yumosheva's (Yeltsin's daughter) Blog Translation.

I decided to say a few words about the decision that was made by Boris Yeltsin (my father) when he decidet to leave Kremlin and choose Vladimir Putin to be the president of Russia. SOme people are pleased with this choice they say:"There is only one good thing that Yeltsin did - he left the post of president on December 31 and gave Putin the permission to run the country", others think taht it was a mistake: "It was not just a mistake - it was a crime..."
So here is a question - Why Vladimir Putin?

Imagine just for a minute that you are the president of Russia. But I have to warn you - there is nothing good about this job but just to understand how hard it is lets try to imagine. So you know that on summer 2000 your term as president ends. Of course you worried about a democratic, market-based, civilized courses of country. So you have to face the question: whom you should support on the next elections? If you are responsible president you should think about this question at least one year before the elections. Let's see what choise did Yeltsin has.

Eugeny Primakov - prime minister of Russia. You don't want him as president because for a few months of his work as prime minister he started to attack bussinesmen. He let the all bussinesmen know that he would love to put them in prison if something will go wrong. He always complained about the the mass media. He belived that they lie about the government. Less significant, but important details for you - he's now seventy, he is older than you, this job requires lots of work, do you think he could handle it? Well, and most importantly, you want the new leader of the country young man. So the younger generation could run the country.

But before we start talking about the young generation of politics let's take a look at the old generation first. Viktor Chernomyrdin. Experienced, strong, decent, market participants, had lot's of expirience in political games. Yeltsin tried to push him to the post of prime minister but the political parties refused him. He could not win the president's elections.


Yuri Luzhkov. He really wanted to be a prime minister. But he didn't do so good when Yeltskin asked him for a help with promoting of Chernomirdin in to prime minister position. All of a sudden Luzhkov together with communists blocked the promotion of Chernomirdin. After that Yeltsin didn't trust Luzhkov anymore. Yeltskin as president didn't like the way Luzhkov runs the Moscow. He didn't like kind of familly owned business in the capital of Russia. So Luzhkov could not be a president.

Who else is left? Of course experienced politician, the guy from opposition a liberal and democrat Grigory Yavlinsky. Is there any chance he could beat his competitor Zuganov(communist) in the president race? - NO. And it doesn't really matter that Yeltskin liked Yavlinsky he liked him a lot but he didn't want to leave the country to communists. And if he cooshe YAvlinski means that on the elections in 2000 communists beat him and get in to the president position.


Gaidar and Chubais. Yeltsin liked both of them. He trusted them. You know what they will do if win on the president's elections. But there is no way one of them could win the race for president. S Yeltsin didn't choose any of them.

Boris Nemtsov. Yeltskin thinking about him as a president of Russia. But because of the crisis of 98 when Sergei Kiriyenko got fired, Nemtsov had no chances to win.


Sergei Stepashin. Yeltsin liked him a lot. Stepashin served im millitary and had a great potential. After the events in Budennovsk when he got fired from the post of director of FSB(KGB) he didn't give up. An with the help of Chernomirdin became Interior Minister. Yeltsin new him for a long time. He always helped Yeltsin and always had same views on different problems. He is a good friend of Chubais. He can win the elections. People trust him and he has a great expirience. He is the candidate number one.

The last candidate was Vladimir Putin. You have been thinking about him a lot. The Secretary of the Security Council, and, simultaneously, director of the FSB. In recent years, worked in Yeltsin's administration. He did a great job. Yeltsin knew him not so good as he knew another candidates but he liked the way Putin acted. And when he became the first deputy head of administration it was clear that Putin is a serious, strong leader and smart politician. He was in charge for regions and in a few months he got a strong connections with all governors. Yeltsin liked his quiet, restrained approach to the contentious issues that arose in some regions of the country. Yeltsin new that Putin saved the life of his teacher (Anatoly SObchak) and took a risk to loose his job. And when Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko suggested Putin the post of Director of the FSB, Yeltsin was happy to support this proposal. He is one of the most meaningful people in Yeltsin's team. Now he is the main candidate. He will lead the country to democratic course. He was a strong character, he will continue to move Russia forward. ANd there is no doubt that he could win the elections and beat the comunists partie. Nobody knew him at that time. Yeltsin was 100% sure that Putin could win the elections. SO Yeltsin wath just thinking should he get pUtin on the presiden't position or he should not?

And finally he made his decision - Putin...

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Translated by iPressCenter.com - Foreign News in English, Interviews, Opinions, Articles.