Zee Beam News

04.13.2005 Alexi Cherkasov Gazeta.ru - There's a post in the Kremlin — that of the 'gray cardinal'. Whoever occupies the position is ascribed by the public to have supernatural powers. His lips are the closest to the president's ear, his hand, holding a document that needs only to be signed by the highest authority, is ever near the president's desk. His desk has only one telephone, and that telephone has a single, often pressed, button. Every time a new gray cardinal or 'Kremlin puppet master' appears on the stage, a heap of questions and rumors arises in the midst of society. The gray cardinal has powerful enemies, each of whom wants to take his place. Sooner or later, enemies will conquer even the most powerful official. However, you can eliminate a specific person, but not the eternal function that he occupied. A new gray cardinal will take the place of the fallen. Now, this mythological description about the role and the place of the gray cardinal in Russian politics may not be very realistic, but there are reasons that such a description arose in the first place. The function was carried out by different people over the last 15 years. Their posts had different names each time: state secretary, or head of the presidential security service, or, most simply, deputy head of the Presidential Administration. But of course, the door-plate never had any real significance. The gray cardinal either invents an official post for himself, or occupies a vacant post. Because it's not the position occupied by the gray cardinal that identifies him, but rather he identifies whatever post he occupies. What powers are actually possessed by the gray cardinal as opposed to the powers ascribed to him is a different question altogether. A lot depends on the personality of the man who carries out the function, but even more on the state of the government and the problems it is trying to solve at that point. Political circumstances dictate the demands on the gray cardinal's abilities and talents. And it is only after the demands are actually formulated that the most applicable official starts transforming into the gray cardinal. The rest will depend on the player's personal qualities, and on the current political circumstances. For every successful gray cardinal there is at least one loser who was unable to walk in step with the times or who overestimated his own abilities. There are some considerable figures in the latter category. Once, Anatoly Chubais failed to become a gray cardinal himself. While the appearance of a new Kremlin puppet-master is usually hidden from public view, his fall is usually preceded by a number of certain discernable circumstances. One of them is frequent public appearances by the gray cardinal. If, during the height of his power, the gray cardinal is neither seen nor heard, then a few months before his demise, this mysterious figure comes forth from the shadows and begins intensively interacting with the world. There are a lot of explanations for this, and most of them are not convincing. It's hard to believe, after all, that it only takes one apt interview or speech to stop the inevitable turn of time that dictates a change in the cardinal's vigil. And, if all the signals are right, then the time is nigh for the appearance of a successor to the current gray cardinal, Vladislav Surkov. In the last few weeks, information about his activities have appeared more rarely than information about the lives of the top people in the government. Compared to his predecessors, Surkov has always been a sociable person, although today the circle of people claiming his acquaintance has widened remarkably. This is the first and truest sign that the post of gray cardinal may soon be vacant. Of course, not all omens point to this, and it's highly possible that Surkov may serve several years in his position [as deputy chief of the presidential administration]. But he will no longer have the same power in his hands. If only because Vyacheslav Surkov's main task, which was building a "controlled democracy", has already been completed. New tasks may demand new hands and new heads. In any case, there is no need to worry about Surkov — he will not disappear. But something else here is interesting: who will replace him? Because the name of a new gray cardinal may reveal a lot about the Kremlin's future plans.