Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Monday, December 10, 2007

Medvedev for president

The headline today in many places parallels that of the New York Times below.

Putin Supports First Deputy as Successor

"President Vladimir V. Putin said today that he would back one of his closest confidants, Dmitri A. Medvedev, to be the next Russian president when he steps down next spring..."


This should not be a surprise to anyone. See the list of references to the speculation about a successor to the Russian president that have appeared here.

See also:

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2 Comments:

At 6:25 AM, Blogger Ken Wedding said...

A profile of Dmitry Medvedev

Putin's Purple reign man

"The Russian president's protege, Dmitry Medvedev, is the liberal face of the Kremlin - and an unlikely hard rock aficionado...

"Black Sabbath may not have too many fans with a penchant for sky-blue suits and pink Polo shirts, but the next president of Russia is a devoted follower.

"'I've loved hard rock since my schooldays,' Dmitry Medvedev told an interviewer in April...

"He rejects the term "sovereign democracy", put forward by the Kremlin's chief ideologist, Vladislav Surkov, but says Russia has a fully functioning civil society (it doesn't) and must not abandon its traditions.

"Medvedev is one of a group of lawyers from Putin's St Petersburg circle who have uneasy relations with the president's former KGB colleagues.

"As first deputy prime minister responsible for 'national projects' to revive healthcare, education, housing and agriculture since 2005, Medvedev has been given acres of television coverage.

"His dual role as chairman of the vast Gazprom monopoly puts him at the vanguard of Russia's revival on the back of high energy prices...

"If, as expected, Medvedev takes the presidency with Putin's blessing next March, analysts say the face of power in Russia will shift to accommodate Putin as some kind of 'national leader', or possibly as prime minister in charge of the pro-Kremlin United Russia faction in parliament. In this scenario, the siloviki would remain loyal to Putin, and be largely under his control..."

 
At 6:28 AM, Blogger Ken Wedding said...

I neglected to include the link to the "Guardian" UK article, "Putin's Purple reign man."

HERE it is.

 

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