Putin: a Mixed Picture

Sunday’s inauguration of Vladimir V. Putin as Russia’s new president--the first democratic succession of leadership in the country’s history--was rich in symbolism and promise. Putin, a former KGB officer, likes to invoke the word “democracy,” but it does not come naturally to him. At 47, he is younger and more vigorous than his predecessor, Boris N. Yeltsin, and he shares none of the ideological baggage of the Kremlin leaders before him.

He is taking charge of a country that has accomplished a great deal on the democratic front but disappointed in its economic transformation. Putin’s main goal will be to establish the rule of law and complete economic reforms without endangering democracy.

Putin is an enigma. Even as a presidential candidate he said little about his policies or programs. He owes much of his popularity to waging a merciless war against Chechnya. He likes to reinforce his tough talk about restoring the greatness of Russia and flushing enemies “down the toilet” with macho images of flying jet fighters and practicing judo. He says the right things to the right constituencies.

What he does is less reassuring. While promising to defend democracy, Putin tightened government control over the media. He backed legislation to give the security services influence over the Internet. He speaks of establishing a “dictatorship of the law.” Strong law enforcement may certainly be helpful in a country as lawless as Russia, but after more than eight months in office, the former KGB agent has done little to curb the corrupt oligarchs’ power or gun-toting gangs of organized criminals.

Bringing order to Russia will be a top priority. Under Yeltsin, market reforms led to widespread property thefts and the rise of an economically powerful class of moguls controlling much of the wealth. But unlike Yeltsin, Putin does not owe his election to the oligarchs, and he should be free to try to break the power of the criminal elements in his bid to maintain public support for economic changes. Nominating economist Mikhail M. Kasyanov as prime minister was the right first move.

Putin should use the center-right majority in the Duma, the lower house of parliament, to push for much needed tax reform and a law clearly establishing the right of private ownership of land. The new president has succeeded in creating among ordinary Russians an image of himself as a competent, decisive leader capable of tackling mounting domestic problems and restoring the country’s image abroad. If he can indeed do that without compromising democratic values he will succeed.