RUSSIA 1-13 January 2009 Russians celebrate New Year. PM Vladimir Putin answers Russia's questions

Continuing a tradition he started when he was president, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin plans a live nationwide televised question and answer session some time between the start and end of Russia's big New Year celebrations. Anticipating that the economy will be their biggest worry, he assured Russians on Nov 20 that he would guide them safely through the crisis. He could be asked to explain proposed constitutional changes that would allow him to become president again.

Putin's decision to do the 2009 Q & A session has increased speculation that he plans to return to the presidency early. The speculation will intensify if he, rather than President Dmitri Medvedev, makes the traditional New Year national speech on Jan 1.

The New Year holiday, a time of festivities and gift-giving, officially recognizes what became an unofficial practice after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the state resumed official celebrations of Russian Orthodox Christmas on Jan 7.

This will be the seventh such broadcast since Putin established the tradition in 2001 and the first time since leaving the office of president that he will take questions from people that the Kremlin maintains are selected at random. In 2007, Putin answered 69 questions from all over the country during the 3-hour live program. There were a total of 2,506,740 questions submitted in 2007, collected via telephone hot lines and an Internet portal set up specifically for the event.

In his Nov 20 speech Putin assured Russians that there would be no repeat of the economic turmoil when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and 10 years ago, when the state defaulted on its debt. The crisis has bruised the rouble and has cut more than 70 per cent from the value of Russian markets since May. Putin acknowledged there would be pain, and unveiled a US $20 billion economic stimulus package and a long-term response to the crisis. Nov/08

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Vladimir Putin plans TV phone-in (Variety 19 Nov 08)
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Putin: Crisis will not sink Russian economy (Reuters 20 Nov 2008)
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLK36695720081120

Bill to extend Russian president's term advances (NYT 14 Nov 2008)
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