Russian MPs confirm Mikhail Mishustin as new prime minister after cabinet resignation
by RT
Russian MPs confirm Mikhail Mishustin as new prime minister after cabinet resignation
Mikhail Mishustin has been ratified as next Prime Minister of Russia by MPs, after a cabinet resignation on Wednesday. Vladimir Putin had earlier proposed Mishustin, formerly head of the Federal Tax Service, as a candidate.
In an overwhelming vote on Thursday, 383 lawmakers supported Mishustin’s candidacy. Not a single MP cast their vote against the Prime Minister, but 41 MPs – members of Russia’s Communist Party – chose to abstain, RIA Novosti reported.
Mishustin has already promised a major cabinet reshuffle, meaning that some fresh faces could emerge as new ministers. On the previous day, he held hour-long talks with top MPs at the State Duma, after which house speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that he was well-known to lawmakers.
Mishustin was suggested by President Vladimir Putin as a replacement to the long-time premier Dmitry Medvedev, who has been offered a position as deputy chief of Russia’s Security Council.
The 53-year-old politician has worked in government since 1998 and has been described as a low-profile technocrat who managed to propel Russia’s tax service to remarkable efficiency.
