| JRL HOME | SUPPORT | SUBSCRIBE | RESEARCH & ANALYTICAL SUPPLEMENT | |
Old Saint Basil's Cathedral in MoscowJohnson's Russia List title and scenes of Saint Petersburg
Excerpts from the JRL E-Mail Community :: Founded and Edited by David Johnson
#1 - JRL 2008-70 - JRL Home
Russia's State Duma set to approve on May 8 Putin as PM

MOSCOW, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - The lower house of Russia's parliament is set to approve outgoing president Vladimir Putin as prime minister on May 8, State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov said on Monday.

Russia's president-elect Dmitry Medvedev is to be inaugurated on May 7, replacing Putin, who has ruled Russia for eight years.

"We are looking forward to both the inauguration on May 7, and May 8, when we will approve Vladimir Putin's candidacy for premier," Gryzlov told the press.

First Deputy Prime Minister Medvedev won a landslide victory in Russia's March 2 presidential elections, gaining more than 70% of the vote. Vladimir Putin had agreed to become prime minister in the event of his long-time ally's victory at the polls. The elections were criticized as "undemocratic" by opposition parties.

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.

Gryzlov, the leader of the United Russia party, which enjoys a parliamentary majority, said with confidence last Tuesday that Medvedev "will put forward Vladimir Putin's candidacy [for prime minister]."

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

The State Duma speaker also said he would invite Putin to head the United Russia party at its ninth congress, to be held on April 14-15.

"It would be the best of all possible developments if Putin headed United Russia. We have discussed this over the past four years," Gryzlov said, adding that the leader of the ruling party would for the first time hold the post of prime minister.

Putin headed the United Party candidate list at the December 2 parliamentary polls.

It has been widely assumed that Putin, who is unable under the Constitution to serve more than two consecutive terms as president, 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 to the Financial Times shortly after his election victory, the president-elect said he was convinced his partnership with Putin would prove effective, and would not lead to a power struggle.