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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

THE FACELESS

17 July, 1999 - 00:00

The Russian President announced the new Premier, Vladimir Putin, his likely successor. After Sergei Stepashin's predictable yet unexpected retirement, this announcement came as another shocking move on Mr. Yeltsin's part, reminding one of the gallery of his other «likely successors» and their poor political lot.

In the previous cases, however, one could detect a certain logic. Viktor Chernomyrdin was a politician with a reputation matching that of Boris Yeltsin; he could be liked or disliked, but he was very straightforward. Boris Nemtsov made his name prior to moving to Moscow, not so much as governor of Nizhni Novgorod but as a young politician popular with the fair sex. Anyway, Boris Yeltsin's choice could be explained.

But why Putin? This takes quite some explaining. Primarily because most Russian citizens read his name for the first time in Yeltsin's edict appointing the new head of the government. The point is not Mr. Putin's high or low professionalism; he is a real pro — hence all this inconspicuousness. What could one expect from a man starting as a Soviet resident agent in Germany? Any first-year spy school cadet will tell you that a resident agent must have a very ordinary appearance. By the way, that was what made professionals wonder watching the most popular Soviet war spy series «17 Moments of Spring . » They knew that people with faces like Vyacheslav Tikhonov's that are easily remembered do not work as intelligence agents.

Vladimir Putin is not Vyacheslav Tikhonov. He knows how to stay in the background. Try to remember his face. You won't, not before spotting his newspaper photo or turning on your television for the news. Now what is good for an intelligence officer is bad for a politician. How will this faceless successor to the Russian throne consolidate Russian society? Why he of all people?

In a word, I am not at all sure that Vladimir Putin's appointment is to be regarded seriously. One thing is clear, though. Whoever the Russian President does appoint as his successor will be a man without a face.

The Russian President announced the new Premier, Vladimir Putin, his likely successor. After Sergei Stepashin's predictable yet unexpected retirement, this announcement came as another shocking move on Mr. Yeltsin's part, reminding one of the gallery of his other «likely successors» and their poor political lot.

In the previous cases, however, one could detect a certain logic. Viktor Chernomyrdin was a politician with a reputation matching that of Boris Yeltsin; he could be liked or disliked, but he was very straightforward. Boris Nemtsov made his name prior to moving to Moscow, not so much as governor of Nizhni Novgorod but as a young politician popular with the fair sex. Anyway, Boris Yeltsin's choice could be explained.

But why Putin? This takes quite some explaining. Primarily because most Russian citizens read his name for the first time in Yeltsin's edict appointing the new head of the government. The point is not Mr. Putin's high or low professionalism; he is a real pro — hence all this inconspicuousness. What could one expect from a man starting as a Soviet resident agent in Germany? Any first-year spy school cadet will tell you that a resident agent must have a very ordinary appearance. By the way, that was what made professionals wonder watching the most popular Soviet war spy series «17 Moments of Spring . » They knew that people with faces like Vyacheslav Tikhonov's that are easily remembered do not work as intelligence agents.

Vladimir Putin is not Vyacheslav Tikhonov. He knows how to stay in the background. Try to remember his face. You won't, not before spotting his newspaper photo or turning on your television for the news. Now what is good for an intelligence officer is bad for a politician. How will this faceless successor to the Russian throne consolidate Russian society? Why he of all people?

In a word, I am not at all sure that Vladimir Putin's appointment is to be regarded seriously. One thing is clear, though. Whoever the Russian President does appoint as his successor will be a man without a face.

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