Putin signals plan to hold onto power
Foreign Desk Report

MOSCOW—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 sign yet that he will try to keep power after he leaves office.
Putin is barred from seeking a third straight 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 United Russia’s candidate list in the December parliamentary vote, 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.
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 on a proportional basis among parties that receive at least 7 percent of the votes.
President Vladimir Putin said Monday he would lead the dominant United Russia party’s candidate list in December parliamentary elections and suggested that he could later become prime minister.
The statements were the strongest indication yet of Putin’s plans after he steps down as president at the end of his second term early next year. Putin is barred from seeking a third straight term as president when he steps down in March. Heading the United Russia party list in the December parliamentary vote could open the door for him to become prime minister under a new system in which the power of the president would be diminished.
“I gratefully accept your proposal to head the United Russia list,” Putin said at a congress of the party, which is expected to maintain its dominance of parliament in the Dec. 2 election. 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 first United Russia would have to win the parliamentary elections and a “decent, competent, modern person” must be elected president.
President Vladimir Putin said Monday he would lead the dominant United Russia party’s candidate list in December parliamentary elections and suggested that he could later become prime minister.
The statements were the strongest indication yet of Putin’s plans after he steps down as president at the end of his second term early next year.
Putin is barred from seeking a third straight term as president when he steps down in March. Heading the United Russia party list in the December parliamentary vote could open the door for him to become prime minister under a new system in which the power of the president would be diminished.
“I gratefully accept your proposal to head the United Russia list,” Putin said at a congress of the party, which is expected to maintain its dominance of parliament in the Dec. 2 election.
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 first United Russia would have to win the parliamentary elections and a “decent, competent, modern person” must be elected president.