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Russia's parliament may vote on May 8 for Putin as PM

MOSCOW, April 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's lower house of parliament could approve Vladimir Putin's candidacy for the post of prime minister on May 8, the State Duma speaker said on Tuesday.

"The vote will take place during an unscheduled meeting of the lower house," Boris Gryzlov said, adding that Putin's candidacy could be proposed on May 7 during the inauguration of the new president.

First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev won the recent presidential election in a landslide, gaining more than 70% of the vote. Prior to the election, Vladimir Putin agreed to become prime minister in the event of his long-time ally's victory.

In line with the Russian Constitution, the Cabinet must be dissolved on the day of the president's inauguration. Following his inauguration, the new president has two weeks to put forward a candidacy for the post of prime minister. The newly appointed premier, in turn, has a week to form a new government.

"We all know that the newly elected president will put forward Vladimir Putin's candidacy [for prime minister]," the speaker said.

Gryzlov, who is the leader of the ruling United Russia party, also said his party, which holds a parliamentary majority, would certainly support Putin's candidacy.

Meanwhile, the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) and the Communist Party insisted that more consultations with minority parliamentary parties were necessary.

The chairman of the LDPR, Igor Lebedev, said Putin would have to meet with all the factions regardless if he was "the president or just an ordinary worker." The lawmaker added however that his party would nevertheless support Putin's candidacy as prime minister.

Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said however his party would not approve Putin's candidacy if he continued to stick to his previous policies.

"They [Medvedev and Putin] distributed all the powers and responsibilities on December 10. I believe this shows disrespect to the country's citizens," Zyuganov said.

It has been widely assumed that Putin will remain Russia's de facto leader, strengthening the currently limited role of the prime minister.

However, Medvedev said after being elected that he had no intention of redistributing powers between the president and the prime minister.

Speaking shortly after his election in an interview with the Financial Times, he said he was convinced his partnership with Putin would prove effective, and would not lead to a power struggle.