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Russian Cabinet goes online with appeals for strong government MOSCOW (AP) - Russia is in danger of sliding into the ranks of Third World countries and needs a tough government to avoid that, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in an article on the government's new Web site.
Long after the Kremlin, the two houses of parliament and a succession of official agencies did so, the Cabinet went online this week, contemplating Russia's future at the turn of the millennium.
The site was inaugurated with Putin's article, ``Russia at the Threshold of the Millennium,'' in which he outlined his thoughts on how the country can restore some of its lost might.
``Russia is going through one of the most difficult periods in its multi-century history. Probably for the first time in the past 200-300 years, it faces a real danger of finding itself in the second, or even third rank of the world's states,'' Putin wrote.
He said free-market and democratic reforms could help, but they must be carried out gradually and under close control by the state.
``Russia will not quickly, if ever, become a second edition of, say, the United States or Britain, where liberal values have a deep historic tradition,'' Putin wrote. ``For us, the state, its institutions and structures have always played an exceptionally important role in the life of the country, of the people.''
The rhetoric reflects just the kind of appeal that Putin has for many Russians, who are tired of President Boris Yeltsin's erratic behavior and repeated illnesses and see in their premier a strong, decisive man of action.
Putin's tough handling of the military offensive in Chechnya has earned him wide popularity among Russians, and he is leading the polls to replace Yeltsin in the June presidential election.
In his article, Putin appealed to Russians' weariness of extremist rhetoric and economic and social upheavals, calling for more moderate reforms.
``Russia has exhausted its limit of political and socioeconomic shakeups, cataclysms, radical changes. Only fanatics or political forces that are deeply indifferent, apathetic to Russia and its people are capable of appeals for a new revolution,'' he wrote.
Putin also called for restoring a social safety net for the needy, stating that Russians are accustomed to relying on government help to improve their lives.
``Russia needs a strong state power and must have it,'' he wrote, adding that he was not appealing ``for a totalitarian system.''
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