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Moscow's mayor gets timeout to think over next moves say analysts

© POOL / Go to the mediabankMoscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov
Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov - Sputnik International
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Moscow's Mayor Yury Luzhkov, whose possible dismissal has lately been in the center of Russian media attention, has received a timeout to figure out his next moves, political analysts have commented on the situation.

Moscow's Mayor Yury Luzhkov, whose possible dismissal has lately been in the center of Russian media attention, has received a timeout to figure out his next moves, political analysts have commented on the situation.

The mayor is on an agreed vacation in Austria and will return at the designated time to continue his work, spokesman for Luzhkov, Sergei Tsoi, said earlier.

The mayor's vacation has shown that that the situation with his possible dismissal is unlikely to be resolved soon, Alexei Makarkin, First Vice President of the Center for Political Technologies told Ekho Moskvy radio station. "This is a cooling-off period for all the persons, involved in this story," he said.

Luzhkov's vacation will allow him to avoid an information and political war, which he is incapable to win, Gleb Pavlovsky, President of the Foundation for Effective Politics, said. The mayor's vacation will reduce tensions in Moscow, Pavlovsky added.

Earlier, leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party Vladimir Zhirinovsky presumed that Luzhkov, who had taken a brief leave and left for abroad, might not return to Russia.

Zhirinovsky said he is eager to become the new mayor of the Russian capital.

Luzhkov, who has been in office since 1992, is allegedly at odds with President Dmitry Medvedev. Their conflict is thought to have its roots in a September article by Luzhkov in the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government daily that hinted at criticism of the Medvedev-Putin tandem.

The mayor was recently accused of massive corruption by federal TV channels. Some media reports quoted sources in the presidential staff and the ruling United Russia party as saying that the long-serving Moscow mayor may be fired no later then December.

The Moscow mayor's term expires in the summer of 2011. He said he believed he would not be asked to leave the office before.

"I think this will definitely not take place, because our leaders are conscious people," Luzhkov said.

Earlier this month, a documentary aired by the NTV TV channel said Luzhkov's wife Yelena Baturina, the world's third richest woman, had used her husband's position to amass her wealth, reported by Forbes as $2.9 billion.

 

MOSCOW, September 19 (RIA Novosti)

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