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PDFDmitri Medvedev’s dismissal of Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov could help push Russia in a more democratic direction, writes Stephen Sestanovich, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and board member of the National Endowment for Democracy:
Many people who benefit from the current rules will do everything they can—and in Russian politics, that means everything imaginable—to keep themselves from being sidelined.
But many others will support new rules if someone can lead the way. Medvedev may now have a chance to be that someone.If he can accomplish even half of what now seems within reach, he’ll have done much to make Russia a steadily more normal country.
