I'd vote for him; word is he's the one who ran the Jewish Mafia out of Russia.
"Putin will seek another term as president in 2012 election; Medvedev agrees to move into role of prime minister" by Ellen Barry and Michael Schwirtz, New York Times / September 25, 2011
MOSCOW - Vladimir V. Putin, who transformed post-Soviet Russia by imposing strict Kremlin control over most aspects of public life, publicly signaled that he will return to the presidency next year and could remain until 2024, giving him a rule comparable in length with that of Brezhnev or Stalin.
President Dmitry A. Medvedev announced yesterday at a party convention in Moscow that he would step aside for Putin, who served as president from 2000 to 2008 but was limited by the constitution to two consecutive terms. Medvedev is to take his place as prime minister after presidential elections in March, which Putin is assured of winning.
At the announcement, wave upon wave of applause washed over the hall, where 11,000 members of Putin’s party, United Russia, had gathered. Medvedev’s face was projected on a giant screen above the stage, and he gave a flickering smile as the crowd roared, rose, and swung its attention away from him toward Putin, who was sitting in the audience.
The announcement brings an end to years of uncertainty, inside and outside Russia, about whether Putin intended to loosen his grip on power. Neither leader offered any reason for the decision, but Putin said the deal had been made years ago.
If that is true, Medvedev’s presidency, and the tension that accompanied its end, now looks like an orchestrated political drama that drew in much of the world....
Just like our "elections," Amerikan!
Putin, who will turn 59 in October, is expected to face painful and unpopular decisions over the coming years as oil production levels off and the rise in Russians’ standards of living will slow.
In 2014, Russia’s oil production will no longer offset imports of consumer goods, forcing the government to be increasingly dependent on foreign investment.
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More orchestration:
"Minister out after Medvedev spat; Finance official in Russia resigns after conflict" by Lynn Berry Associated Press / September 27, 2011
MOSCOW - Russia’s influential finance minister was forced out yesterday after a televised confrontation with President Dmitry Medvedev, who had angrily demanded that Alexei Kudrin immediately explain his criticism of Medvedev’s policies or resign....
The departure of Kudrin is likely to unsettle investors and further shake Russia’s markets. A longtime member of Putin’s team, he has been finance minister since 2000 and his tight hold over the budget has been seen as key to Russia’s economic stability.
“It is difficult to see how Mr. Kudrin’s resignation can be anything but market-negative,’’ said Neil Shearing, chief emerging markets economist at Capital Economics Ltd in London. “With oil prices starting to slide and financial markets still jittery, now is not a good time for the government to lose its arch fiscal hawk.’’
On Saturday in the United States, Kudrin said he would refuse to serve in the government if Medvedev becomes prime minister because of policy disagreements he had with him, including plans to boost military spending substantially.
Addressing Kudrin yesterday, Medvedev called the minister’s remarks “irresponsible chatter’’ and “improper,’’ especially since they were made while the minister was in Washington for meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
“If you disagree with the course set by the president and being implemented by the government, you have only one choice: resign,’’ Medvedev said during a meeting of a presidential commission on modernization held in the town of Dimitrovgrad.
Kudrin, who stayed in his seat, shot back that he would decide only after talking to Putin.
“You can seek the advice of whomever you want, but as long as I’m president, such decisions are made by me,’’ Medvedev retorted.
The Kremlin said Medvedev signed a decree on Kudrin’s resignation. State news agencies quoted Kudrin confirming that he had quit.
Kudrin has been widely credited with helping Russia weather the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.
During Putin’s presidency from 2000 to 2008, Kudrin stashed some of the revenue from Russia’s soaring oil exports into a stabilization fund despite opposition from other ministers who wanted to spend the money.
But when the financial crisis hit and oil prices sank sharply, those savings proved crucial in reducing the blow to Russia’s economy.
Nikolai Petrov, a political scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said Putin may have wanted to spare Kudrin from taking responsibility for the higher taxes and cuts in social spending that Russia faces after a parliamentary election in December and a presidential election three months later.
“Putin cherishes Kudrin too much to put him in the crossfire of unpopular measures,’’ Petrov said.
The 50-year-old Kudrin had been mentioned as a possible future prime minister, and Petrov said Putin could still appoint him to the post.
Anton Struchenevsky, a senior economist at the Moscow-based investment bank Troika Dialog, described Kudrin as “the restraining element against populist policies’’ in Russia.
“All of Russia’s macroeconomic achievements are Kudrin’s work,’’ Struchenevsky said. “Kudrin is a highly influential figure, and I don’t see anyone of similar weight who could replace him.’’
Some market analysts speculated that Kudrin’s departure could have a greater effect on Russia’s economy than the 2012 presidential election....
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