MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) -Jailed Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky has dismissed President Dmitry Medvedev's modernization program as a farce and an attempt to preserve what he labeled 'tandemocracy.'
The phrase is a reference to the Medvedev-[Vladimir] Putin ruling tandem that was established after Medvedev was inaugurated in May 2008. Medvedev made Putin, his predecessor in the post, prime minister the following day.
In an article entitled "Modernization: Generation M," published in Russia's business daily Vedomosti on Wednesday, Khodorkovsky took issue with Medvedev's September 10 article entitled Russia Onward! and published on the president's website.
Khodorkovsky said the much-hyped article, which called for reform and modernization, was "a farce and bluff."
"[Medvedev] only plays the role of a 'good cop' in a show called Russian Tandemocracy in a bid to win the sympathies of the Russian public" as an alternative to those who have little love for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Khodorkovsky said.
He said the president's article sought to justify "the possibility of modernizing Russia without dismantling its authoritarian system."
The jailed oligarch said real modernization cannot be implemented "at the top" but requires a dedicated social group, free from the influence of corrupt bureaucracy and self-serving business interests.
Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev, who have been serving eight-year sentences for fraud and tax evasion since 2006, are facing fresh embezzlement and money laundering charges.
The new charges deal with the theft of government shares and the laundering of money earned from illegal oil sales, in total worth about $50 billion. If convicted, the two could see their jail terms extended by 21 years.
Khodorkovsky claims the charges against him were political and revenge for his funding of the country's opposition.
