Prime Minister of Russia

Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation
Coat of Arms of the Russian Federation
Incumbent: Vladimir Putin
Appointer	The President
Inaugural	Sergei Witte
Formation	6 November 1905

Russia

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The Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, (Russian: Председатель Правительства Российской Федерации) unofficially called the Prime-Minister (though such term is not present in the Russian Constitution) is the current Head of Government of the Russian Federation. Executive power is split between the Prime Minister and the President of Russia, who is Russia's Head of State.

During the Imperial era, the Chairman of the Russian Council of Ministers, referred to as the prime minister, was appointed by the Czar (the Emperor); his precursor, the Chairman of the Committee of Ministers, had no separate power.

In the era of the Soviet Union, the head of government was the Chairman of Council of People's Commissars (until 1946) and the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (after 1946). People who held those positions are sometimes referred to as the prime ministers.

[edit] Appointment to office and removal from office

The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of Russia with the consent of the State Duma.

The President nominates the new head of the cabinet within two weeks after the resignation of the previous government or the inauguration ceremony of the President. The State Duma must discuss the matter within two weeks after the nomination and make a decision. If the State Duma decides to give the President its consent, the President may immediately sign the respective appointment decree. If the State Duma refuses to give its approval, the President will have to present another candidate within one week after the rejection of the previous candidate.

Should the State Duma reject candidates nominated by the President for three times consecutively, the President dissolves it and announces new elections, while the Prime Minister is appointed by the President without participation of the Duma. The State Duma cannot be dissolved on these grounds during the last six months of the incumbent President's term, in time of emergency or war and in case the State Duma initiates the impeachment of the incumbent President.

The Prime Minister may be dismissed by the President at any time at President's own discretion. The Prime Minister may also pass his resignation to the President on his own initiative. The President may reject the Prime Minister's resignation and oblige him to work further. The resignation of the Prime Minister automatically means the resignation of the whole government as a body.

Under certain circumstances the President may also theoretically be forced to dismiss his Prime Minister and the whole cabinet under pressure of the State Duma. For that to happen the State Duma has to pass a censure motion against the Government twice within three months. Normally, in this case the President has the right to choose whether to sack the Government or to dissolve the Duma (and if the Duma passes the censure motion just once, the President may also opt to "take into account" the decision of the Duma but "not agree" with it, which technically means that neither the cabinet nor the Duma are dismissed). However, within one year from parliamentary elections the dissolution of the Duma is impossible on these grounds. That is why in this case the President does not have any other option but to dismiss his Prime Minister and the cabinet as a whole (even if he totally supports it).

Other members of the Russian Government are appointed and dismissed by the President upon recommendation of the Prime Minister.

[edit] Duties and competences

In general, the Prime Minister serves more of an administrative role, nominating members of the Cabinet and implementing domestic policy. In accordance with the federal constitutional law "On the Government of the Russian Federation" the Prime Minister exercises the following duties:

• determines the basic guidelines of the Government activity;
• presents to the President proposals on the structure and functions of the central institutions of the executive branch (e.g. ministries and federal agencies);
• nominates the vice prime ministers, federal ministers and other officers and presents them to the President;
• represents the government as an institution in foreign relations and inside the country;
• heads the sessions of the Government and its Presidium and has the right of decisive vote;
• signs the decrees and executive orders of the government;
• systematically informs the President about the Government activities;

[edit] Succession of the presidency

In case of the President's death, resignation or impeachment the Prime Minister becomes a temporary president until new presidential elections which must take place within three months. The Prime Minister acting as president may not dissolve the State Duma, announce a referendum or propose amendments to the Constitution.

[edit] Prime Ministers of the Russian Empire (1905-1917)

[edit] Minister-Chairmen of the Russian Provisional Government (1917)

[edit] Premiers of the Russian SFSR (1917-1990)

[edit] Prime Ministers of the Russian SFSR (1990-1991)

A#	R#	Name		Took office	Left office	Political Party	Chairman/President
29	1	Ivan Silayev	No Image	June 15, 1990	September 26, 1991	Communist Party of the Soviet Union	Boris Yeltsin
—	—	Oleg Lobov (Acting)	No Image	September 26, 1991	November 6, 1991	Communist Party of the Russian Federation	Boris Yeltsin
30	2	Boris Yeltsin		November 6, 1991	December 25, 1991	Non-partisan (Supported by Democratic Russia)	Boris Yeltsin

[edit] List of Prime Ministers of the Russian Federation (1991-Present)

A#	R#	I#	Name		Took office	Left office	Political Party	President
30	1	1	Boris Yeltsin		December 25, 1991	June 15, 1992	Non-partisan	Boris Yeltsin
—	—	—	Yegor Gaydar (Acting)		June 15, 1992	December 14, 1992	Non-partisan	Boris Yeltsin
31	2	2	Viktor Chernomyrdin	No Image	December 14, 1992	March 23, 1998	Our Home is Russia	Boris Yeltsin
32	3	3	Sergei Kiriyenko	No Image	April 24, 1998 (Acting from March 23, 1998)	August 23, 1998	Non-partisan	Boris Yeltsin
—	—	—	Viktor Chernomyrdin (Acting)	No Image	August 23, 1998	September 11, 1998	Our Home is Russia	Boris Yeltsin
33	4	4	Yevgeny Primakov		September 11, 1998	May 12, 1999	Non-partisan	Boris Yeltsin
34	5	5	Sergei Stepashin	No Image	May 19, 1999 (Acting from May 12, 1999)	August 9, 1999	Non-partisan	Boris Yeltsin
35	6	6	Vladimir Putin 1st term		August 16, 1999 (Acting from August 9, 1999)	May 7, 2000	Non-partisan	Boris Yeltsin Vladimir Putin (acting)
36	7	7	Mikhail Kasyanov		May 17, 2000 (Acting from May 7, 2000)	February 24, 2004	Non-partisan	Vladimir Putin
—	—	—	Viktor Khristenko (Acting)		February 24, 2004	March 5, 2004	Non-partisan	Vladimir Putin
37	8	8	Mikhail Fradkov		March 12, 2004 (Acting from March 5, 2004)	September 12, 2007 (Acting until September 14, 2007)	Non-partisan	Vladimir Putin
38	9	9	Viktor Zubkov		September 14, 2007	May 7, 2008 (Acting until May 8, 2008)	Non-partisan	Vladimir Putin Dmitry Medvedev
39	10	—	Vladimir Putin 2nd term		May 8, 2008	Incumbent	Non-partisan (Non-member chairman of United Russia)	Dmitry Medvedev

[edit] See also

• Sergei Kiriyenko's Cabinet
• Yevgeny Primakov's Cabinet
• Mikhail Fradkov's Second Cabinet

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