The leaders of four political parties - United Russia, Fair Russia, the Agrarian Party and Civic Force met with President Putin today to discuss their idea of Russia’s future leader
As a result the party leaders said all their groups would suggest Dmitry Medvedev, First Deputy PM in the country’s Cabinet, as their joint candidate for the presidency. Putin said he supported the parties’ decision.
"I know Dmitry Medvedev well and I have worked with him for the last seventeen years", Mr Putin said.
The Central Electoral Commission has already commented on the news, saying that a candidate can be proposed only by a single party. Most likely, Medvedev will run on behalf of Edinaya Rossiya (United Russia) – the party that won the majority at the recent Duma election. Officially, the candidate will be proposed on December 17, at a closing session of UR’s convention in Moscow.
The news did not surprise most political analysts and the Russians in general, as Mr Medvedev has been widely regarded as a possible ‘successor’ since the day of his appointment to the Government.
"The political team of Russia’s current President will remain in power", Gleb Pavlovsky, head of the Foundation for Effective Politics, believes.
"For me personally, Medvedev’s candidature is a great advantage, because he is a civilian person", comments Valery Fadeev, editor-in-chief of Expert magazine. "He is a young, energetic and very pro-liberal politician, who is positively perceived in the West". Fadeev also described Medvedev as a political leader with a ‘positive, long-range and liberal plan’ of Russia’s further development.
Some international political scientists have also said Medvedev is the most acceptable candidate for the West.
Medvedev himself said consultations were underway regarding his candidature.
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