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 MOSCOW: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sacked a powerful political opponent, veteran Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, a Kremlin spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Luzhkov had ruled Russia's capital since 1992 but he angered Medvedev by criticising his administration and suggesting the country needed a stronger and more decisive leader -- a remark seen as favouring Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Medvedev, who is on a state visit to China, issued a decree stripping Luzhkov of his post "because he has lost the trust of the president of the Russian Federation", Kremlin spokeswoman Natalia Timakova said. Russia's constitution allows the president to sack the Moscow mayor and regional governors at will and to appoint a successor without elections. Only on Monday, Luzhkov, 74, had returned from a week's holiday abroad vowing not to resign of his own free will – a challenge the Kremlin could not ignore. But Medvedev's choice of replacement appeared to suggest that Luzkhov had not lost out entirely. The presidential decree named a longtime Luzhkov ally, First Deputy Mayor Vladimir Resin, as acting mayor of Moscow. Resin has held the first deputy's job since 2001 and has responsibility for the city's construction sector. Luzkhov's tenure was tainted by repeated allegations that his billionaire construction boss wife, Yelena Baturina, benefited from his post -- allegations that the pair strenuously deny. Resin's previous responsibility for construction suggests that a dramatic break with the Luzkhov era is unlikely. AGENCIES |