Putin overweegt het premierschap (en)
Russian president Vladimir Putin may retain power even after his second presidential term expires next March as he has raised the possibility of becoming the country's future prime-minister.
"As far as heading the government is concerned - this is an entirely realistic proposal but it's too early to think about this", Mr Putin said on Monday (1 October), speaking to the congress of United Russia.
The party, backed by the Kremlin, won a landslide victory in previous parliamentary elections in 2003 and with its allies currently holds a two-third majority vote in the Duma.
The Russian leader said that two conditions must be met for the prime minister scenario. United Russia must uphold its victory and a "decent, capable and modern person with whom I work as a team" should be elected as president.
Mr Putin's suggestion comes amid speculation on whether he will change the constitution, which currently bars him from seeking a third presidential term - something that he himself has repeatedly ruled out.
According to some analysts, the freshly-floated plan would strengthen the prime minister role at the expense of the presidential chair, allowing Mr Putin to remain a central player in the country's political arena.
For the first time since 1991, it would mean that "in the Kremlin will sit the president, but not necessarily the national leader", Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst close to the Kremlin, told the FT.
In remarks to the BBC, Mr Pavlovsky added that "all branches of executive power would have to take into account Mr Putin's position", as "a second centre of power in society, equal to presidential power" would emerge.
So far, three names have been tipped for the presidential candidates; Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev, both deputy prime ministers, as well as Victor Zubkov, the recently-appointed prime minister, widely seen as a little-known bureaucrat.
Parliamentary elections in Russia are scheduled to take place on 2 December, followed by the presidential race in March 2008.