Mr. Luzhkov's major concerns were about the new plans for dividing responsibility between central and regional authorities. "Governors will be deprived of control over their regions," he said, "and will become nominal representative figures." As evidence, he cited a new law on the complete substitution of benefits with monetary compensations. This law, according to Mr. Luzhkov, "crassly infringes on the rights of the subjects of the Russian Federation," and in particular deprives them of the right to provide financial support to law enforcement agencies, cultural institutions and Russians abroad. Mr. Luzhkov said that such laws, devised by the "chief accountant," Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, are anti-constitutional, and "neither the country, nor the President needs them."
Meanwhile, during the discussion of this law, which was adopted in the summer of 2004 and supported by the majority of Moscow deputies in the United Russia party, neither the mayor nor his supporters in the State Duma said that the law would infringe on constitutional rights. Therefore, yesterday's revelation is probably not about monetary compensation, but rather a different law that Mr. Luzhkov only dared to mention indirectly. Rejecting the artificial limitation of governors' authority, Mr. Luzhkov suddenly said that Russia would never become a unitary state because "none of the prominent figures in the government are capable of ruling such a vast and diverse country as Russia."
The December 15 law that abolishes the popular election of governors references a unitary state. However, when the president proposed the law at a cabinetmeeting on September 13, Mayor Luzhkov was one of the first to support him.
