Russias president vs premier: Who does what?
From correspondents in Moscow, Russia, 04:01 PM IST Vladimir Putin is swapping the presidency for the prime minister’s post as he stepped down Wednesday to leave room for his hand picked successor-elect, Dmitry Medvedev. While the two have promised to share power, how the so-called power tandem will function is anybody’s guess. Putin is set to become Russia’s most powerful prime minister, as head of the party that holds a majority in both houses and the country’s most popular political figure. Over his eight years at the helm, he has centralized power in the executive, and analysts are skeptical that Putin will relinquish this power to take the traditionally weak and thankless premiership without changes. Whether Medvedev, who owes his ascent solely to Putin, will have the independence to exploit this powerful post also has observers puzzled. They remark that an analysis purely based on the separation of powers provided in the constitution ignores the nepotistic ties inherent in Russia
