Putin agrees to act as Russian PM

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday agreed to head Russia’s ruling party in a significant shift of the political landscape three weeks before he hands power to successor Dmitry Medvedev.

Putin, who leaves the Kremlin after two terms on May 7, also confirmed he would become prime minister under Medvedev. “With gratitude I accept the proposal of the party members and their leadership. I am ready to take on the additional responsibility and head United Russia,” he told a party congress in Moscow after being urged to take the post.

The 55-year-old ex-KGB officer’s announcement, carried live on state-run television, signalled a reordering of Russia’s political mix on the eve of Medvedev’s presidential debut. During his eight years in the Kremlin, Putin has steadily centralised power, with United Russia his tool for ensuring loyalty of an increasingly emasculated parliament.

Becoming head of the party, which won a constitutional majority with 63 percent of the vote in controversial December elections, will now hugely strengthen Putin’s status as prime minister.

But the development added to questions raised in Moscow and foreign capitals over who will really be in charge from next month - the untested Medvedev or powerful ex-president, turned prime minister and parliament leader Putin. “Analysts and those in the media are still trying to figure out whose portrait will end up hanging in government offices across the country,” commentator Konstantin Sonin wrote in Tuesday’s Moscow Times daily. afp

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