Photo: http://uznayvse.ru
Right after the speech of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev took the lead in the Russian media space with a statement on resignation of the entire government.
The first half of January 2020 continues to be very eventful: the Middle East is still a flashpoint of confrontation between Iran and the U.S., and the debriefing of the Ukraine International Airlines jet in Tehran is going on. Against the backdrop of events outside Russia, the domestic agenda has not been forgotten. Everybody was waiting for Vladimir Putin's Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly, and finally it came. Many optimistic things for Russian citizens (maternity capital, improvement of the health care system, and significant strengthening of social support) were mentioned in the Address. However, even members of the cabinet themselves did not expect what happened next. At least, most of them did not. Immediately after Putin's speech, Dmitry Medvedev took the lead in the media space. The Russian Prime Minister made a statement that the entire government was resigning. As a result of it, complete uncertainty filled the social networks: people did not understand what would happen next. And this is the projected line of events: Medvedev's government will continue to perform its duties until a new one is formed. Against the backdrop of the situation, experts began to make various assumptions who would take up Medvedev’s post. By the way, the outgoing PM would eventually be appointed Deputy Chairman of the Security Council. The process of guessing didn’t last long: Vladimir Putin submitted the candidature of Mikhail Mishustin, head of the Federal Tax Service of Russia, to the State Duma as a nominee for Prime Minister. "Russian President Vladimir Putin held a business meeting with head of the Federal Tax Service Mikhail Mishustin and offered him the position of prime minister. He secured the man’s consent, and then submitted Mishustin's candidacy for the post of prime minister to the State Duma for consideration," said the Kremlin press service. It's also become known that Putin has signed a decree on the resignation of the government. As already noted, Medvedev has been entrusted with the temporary duties of chairman of government.