Photo: https://rg.ru/
“In times of crisis, Russia's government turns out to be in shambles,” says Russian political analyst Yevgeny Satanovsky. “[Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana] Golikova triggers panic just by her appearance. After her speeches you immediately start looking for safety boats, no matter what she was talking about.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian authorities once again exposed their most vulnerable sides. At least experts have noticed them. First of all, this refers to the lack of a unified position among representatives of the State Duma and the Russian government regarding the assistance to residents in the conditions of the crisis. It stemmed from the epidemic of the coronavirus infection, as well as from a number of problems that Vladimir Putin repeatedly hinted at personally.
One of the graphic instances of it was the situation with salary increases and benefits to the medical staffs working immediately with COVID-19 patients. Previously, the discussion of this topic already caused a great deal of outrage. Putin personally had to reproach the Cabinet members for their sluggishness in addressing the issues that is undoubtedly crucial in the current situation. However, these are not the only problems that the Cabinet is solving today, but sometimes it seems that despite the earnest dialogue between the government and people that took place in 2020, some federal officials continue getting out of touch with reality more and more. By the way, a similar opinion is more often voiced by opposition politicians, major political scientists, economists and experts.
Yevgeny Satanovsky, a well-known Russian political scientist and economist, has recently stated that the country's administration is totally in shambles under conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis caused by it. Moreover, he believes that Vladimir Putin is aware of all the ongoing developments perfectly well. It is also noteworthy that Satanovsky criticizes not all the members of the Russian government. According to him, in this situation some ministers might play a kind of stabilizing role. However, there are also those whose actions and speeches do not look logical to him. For instance, he levelled the strongest criticism at Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova.
“In times of the crisis Russia's government has turned up in a total mess,” the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper cited Satanovsky. “Golikova causes a panic just by her appearance. After her speeches you immediately start looking for safety boats, no matter what she was talking about.”
At the same time, Satanovsky added that the actions of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin have the opposite effect. They somehow calm down the Russians while his predecessor in the office, Dmitry Medvedev, almost always says things off the mark.
According to Satanovsky, the tenure of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu is really comforting. “Their presence has a certain comforting effect, as it suggest that “tomorrow” in this country will definitely come,” the analyst said.
Characterizing the government as a whole, however, Satanovsky said that about half of its representatives, on the contrary, hold an opposite viewpoint as regards the future. “When someone starts telling what awaits Russia in the future, few people feel like living through to that day,” Satanovsky said in conclusion. “Take our businessmen that have very difficult times now, for instance.”