Print

Mail

wiki links

Putin quiet about proposed shift to prime minister

Russian President Vladimir Putin kept Russians waiting yesterday on whether he would accept a proposal to become prime minister, but analysts said the wily Kremlin leader would ultimately make the switch -- turning Russia's power structure upside down in the process.

Under the surprise proposal aired on Tuesday by First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Putin would become prime minister when his second and final consecutive term as president ends next May.

Medvedev, handpicked by Putin for the March 2 presidential election, was still waiting for an answer yesterday.

However, observers say the deal, which would allow Putin to retain enormous authority after leaving the Kremlin, is done.

The idea of Putin moving across to the prime minister's post could signal a dramatic change in the way Russia is run, effectively shifting the center of power from the head of state to the government for the first time in centuries, analysts said.

"Putin the Cabinet chief will be more influential than the president," Gazeta daily wrote.

Moskovsky Komsomolets said: "De facto our political system is being turned upside down."
This story has been viewed 556 times.