Now here's a plan -- name your successor and have your successor give you day-to-day control of the government.

The longtime aide tapped by Vladimir V. Putin to be his successor as president of Russia declared Tuesday that he wanted Mr. Putin to be his prime minister, offering the clearest indication yet of how Mr. Putin plans to maintain firm control over the Kremlin after his term ends next spring.

The announcement, in a speech to the nation by the aide, Dmitri A. Medvedev, raised the prospect of a stark realignment in the structure of the Russian government, which is led by a strong president who appoints a prime minister to serve largely as an administrator.

As prime minister, Mr. Putin could very well overshadow Mr. Medvedev, turning him into the kind of figurehead president found in parliamentary systems like GermanyÂ’s or ItalyÂ’s.

Mr. Putin did not publicly respond to Mr. MedvedevÂ’s offer. But it is widely assumed here that Mr. Medvedev was taking this step at the behest of his patron.

Now this could be interesting. The power that Putin has acquired for himself is not likely to evaporate. His prestige and influence will move with him into the new office. But the end result will be that Putin will have doen an end run around provisions in teh Constitution designed to limit any one man's hold on power -- and that does not bode well for the already weak democracy in Russia.

Posted by: Greg at 11:06 PM | Comments (25) | Add Comment
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