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Putin Agrees to Be Protégé’s
Premier
CLIFFORD J. LEVY
New
York Times
Monday December 17, 2007
President Vladimir V. Putin formally declared Monday that he
intended to become prime minister next year, ensuring his dominance
of the Russian government even after his term ends.
Mr. Putin said at a meeting of his party, United Russia, that
he had accepted an offer from his close aide, Dmitri A. Medvedev,
to move to the prime minister’s office if Mr. Medvedev won
the presidency in March, which is highly likely.
“If our people will trust Mr. Medvedev and elect him the
new president of the Russian federation, I will be prepared to
continue our joint work — in this case, in the position
of premier of the government,” Mr. Putin said.
The announcement ends a carefully choreographed power transition
that began in October, when Mr. Putin first suggested that he
might become prime minister in order to retain influence after
his term ran out. It culminated last week when he endorsed Mr.
Medvedev for the presidency, and Mr. Medvedev in turn said he
wanted Mr. Putin to be prime minister.
(Article continues below)
Mr. Putin in his speech called Mr. Medvedev — who is a
first deputy prime minister and chairman of Gazprom, the Russian
gas monopoly — “an exceptionally honest, decent man.”
“We should not be ashamed or frightened to deliver the
main levers of control over the country, the fate of Russia, into
the hands of a man like him,” Mr. Putin said.
Full
article here.
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