Originally posted by Ice ColdMOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin said Monday he would lead the dominant party's ticket in December parliamentary elections and suggested he could become prime minister, the strongest indication yet that he will seek to retain power after he steps down as president early next year.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aw313r13b3fg&refer=home
Putin is barred from seeking a third consecutive term in the March presidential election, but has strongly indicated he would seek to keep a hand on Russia's reins.
He agreed to head the United Russia party's candidate list in December, which could open the door for him to become a powerful prime minister - leading in tandem with a weakened president.
Putin called a proposal that he become prime minister "entirely realistic," but added that it was still "too early to think about it."
He said that, first, United Russia would have to win the Dec. 2 elections and a "decent, competent, modern person" must be elected president.
Putin's agreement to top the candidate list of United Russia sent an ecstatic cheer though the crowd at a congress of the party, which contains many top officials and dominates the parliament and politics nationwide. The move will likely ensure that United Russia retains a two-thirds majority in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, enough to change the constitution.
The White House took note of Putin's move and said it was ultimately a matter for the Russian people.
"We will be paying attention to the upcoming elections in Russia and urge them to conduct those elections in a manner that is free, fair and democractic," National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Monday.
Leading the party's ticket does not mean Putin will take a seat in parliament; prominent politicians and other figures often are given the top spots to attract votes, but stay out of the legislature after elections. The 450 seats in the Duma will be distributed proportionally among parties that receive at least 7 percent of the votes.
The popular Putin has repeatedly promised to step down at the end of his second term in May, as the constitution requires, but has suggested he would maintain significant influence. He offered some initial hints at his strategy last month when he named Viktor Zubkov - a previously obscure figure known mainly for his loyalty - as prime minister.
With no power base of his own, Zubkov would likely play his preordained part in any Putin plan. If he became presiodent and Putin prime minister, Zubkov could be expected to cede specific powers to Putin or step down to allow him to return to the presidency. If he becomes prime minister, Putin would be first in line to replace the president if he is incapacitated.
Putin has amassed authority as president, but as he prepares to step down he has been setting up a system of check and balances that would weaken his successor by putting him at the mercy of rival centers of power. By leading the United Russia party list, Putin instantaneously creates the strongest such center, with himself as its head.
The move means that Putin's successor "will not be a czar," Kremlin-connected analyst Gleb Pavlovsky said on Ekho Moskvy radio. "There will be a new center of influence outside the Kremlin."
Russia's most vocal opposition alliance, co-led by the former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, applied Monday to participate in the December vote but said it expected to be blocked by the Kremlin.
"Our chance for registration is less than zero," Kasparov told journalists, suggesting that a main aim of the application is to draw attention to what Putin's critics say is a severe lack of democracy in Russia. "Once again, we'll show that the government uses administrative and legal leverage to exclude dissidents from the election."
Only registered political parties can participate in the election to the State Duma, the lower parliament house, and none of the dozen or so political movements that comprise Other Russia qualifies.
Looks like Putin does not plan to step down quietly and leave power. He may not be President of Russia but he plans to keep control
Comments?
Ah, yes, Kasparov. It would certainly be nice for America, because they would have a president of Russia "committed to the time-tested philosophy of promoting international peace through American strength", the slogan of the Center for Security Policy where Kasparov is/was a member. That fact has been scrubbed from their official website, presumably since it's like writing "If you elect me, I'll be a traitor!" in neon, but the internet doesn't forget.
Usually when the US needs a lapdog, it comes at a great human and fiscal cost of bribery, ensuring military dominance, and turning a blind eye to torture and murder. It's unusual to have a neocon fanatic fall into one's lap as a potential political candidate.
We could even start rading the Caspian Area. It would spell doom for the nationalist aspirations in Dagestan and Chechnya, two regions rich in natural resources, but those people are Muslims anyway, so Kasparov, if elected, can freely bomb the hell out of them and we'll call it the "new front in the War on Terror".
And it has the advantage of being less time-consuming than getting Ukraine back on the reservation, since the Orange Revolution imploded with Yanukovich becoming PM. The Rose Revolution is still chugging along as far as US interests are concerned, although Saakashvili is now starting to look like a tinhorn dictator, but that's never stopped anyone before.