The Media Mirror – this weekend’s press

Politics finds a place among the numerous New Year-related articles on the final weekend of the year. 'Prime' means 'First', so there’s no need to amend the Constitution for Prime Minister Putin. Also making political news this weekend: Profile magazine’s

PROFILE writes every time the Russian Constitution provides a prerogative to the President it is phrased in a way that allows a choice – to use it or not. The author of the article tends to think that Dmitry Medvedev would rather not. The number one Presidential candidate says complete implementation of the national strategy is only possible when performed together with its creator – in the capacity of a plenipotentiary Prime Minister. The author speculates, in that case the portrait on the wall of the Prime Minister’s office would most probably be that of Vladimir Putin’s pet Labrador.

The same weekly has its own rating of Russian politicians based on the number of times the person has been mentioned in the magazine during the past year. The publication warns: there’s no rating for Vladimir Putin, he is far ahead of any competition. The newly re-elected Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov comes first, mentioned 112 times. The Chairman of the upper chamber, Sergey Mironov is second: 77 times. Sergey Ivanov comes third with 66, followed by the Communist party leader Gennady Ziuganov. After him is the former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and only then follows Dmitry Medvedev with a rating of 44.

In his column, PROFILE’s Editor-in-Chief Mikhail Leontiev puts all his weight behind a straight blow at Rene Van der Linden of PACE. He writes: “PACE is a strange organization that has assumed the role of a tutor for ‘young democracies’. The reasons that lead us, year after year, to pretend that we need these lectures are getting thinner – at the same pace as Russia’s sovereignty is growing.”

KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA weekly has an interview with TV host Vladimir Pozner who says: “I travel around Russia a lot. I see people are beginning to live better. They smile more often. I am glad to see more genuine charities around. This place looks more and more like my kind of country.”