Putin Backs Medvedev for Presidency

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, today ended months of speculation over his successor by naming Dmitry Medvedev as his favoured candidate.

Putin endorsed Medvedev, a first deputy prime minister, at a meeting with party leaders today - a move virtually guaranteeing that he will win a landslide victory in the March 2 election.

"I have known him very closely for more than 17 years, and I completely and fully support this proposal," Putin said on state-run television as he met the leaders of four parties who said they would back Medvedev.

Medvedev, a 42-year-old former lawyer from St Petersburg, is seen as being more liberal and less hawkish towards the west than Sergei Ivanov, Russia's other first deputy prime minister, who was also a frontrunner for the job.

Unlike Putin, Medvedev has no links with Russia's powerful security services and did not serve in the KGB. He does, however, have a longstanding friendship with Putin and is one of the president's closest allies.

Putin declared he would step down next year, in line with a constitutional ban on heads of state serving more than two consecutive terms in office.

"The choice in favour of Medvedev shows that the president opted to send a signal to the outside world that Russia is not planning to conduct tough confrontational policies," Yevgeny Badovsky, of the Institute of Social Systems thinktank, said.

"Medvedev is in a way a more liberal choice, who is not associated with the part of the elite rooted in the security services."

However, other analysts today said the appointment of Medvedev - a comparatively weak political figure - meant Putin had not ruled out the possibility of returning to power in future.

Sergei Markov, a leading Kremlinologist, said he expected three people to run the country after the election - Medvedev, as president; Putin, who would control law enforcement agencies in a new role, and the prime minister.

"Medvedev's ideology is liberal patriotism," Markov told the Guardian. "He is more liberal than Sergei Ivanov. He has no experience of working with law enforcement agencies. They will tend to see Vladimir Putin as their main political chief.

"Medvedev wants Russia to have the same institutions as other European countries. But he also wants Russia to be independent and to be developed."

Under Medvedev's chairmanship, the state natural gas giant, Gazprom, has taken a tough line with neighbouring countries on gas price rises and has negotiated hard with multinational oil companies.

Putin said the wide base of support for Medvedev's candidacy "means we have a chance to form a robust administration for the Russian Federation after the March elections ... an administration that will carry out the same policies that have brought us results for the past eight years".

His United Russia party holds a congress on Monday December 17, at which it is expected to formally nominate Medvedev.

Opinion polls have shown that, given Putin's high level of popularity, Russian voters are prepared to back whichever candidate he endorses. Russian stocks rose to record highs on news that he had backed Medvedev.

One analyst today suggested Russia would face an economic crisis next year, for which Medvedev would take the blame.

"Putin's plan may well be to return after a year or two once Medvedev has messed up. But I don't think he will succeed in this," Mikhail Delyagin, a leading economist and the director of Moscow's Institute on Globalisation Problems, said.

Asked whether Medvedev was a gifted administrator, Delyagin replied: "He's not a high intellect. But of all the people in Putin's team he is the most human."

Speculation surrounding Putin's future has included the possibility that he could try to return as president if Medvedev stepped down early. That possibility seemed stronger after today's announcement, Vladimir Ryzhkov, a prominent liberal politician, said.

"The strategy is as follows: Medvedev is a compromise choice because he will allow Putin to keep a free hand. If Putin wants to gradually leave power, Medvedev guarantees him comfort and security and will continue to listen him," he said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

"If Putin wants to return in two, three years ... Medvedev will be the person who will, without a doubt, give up the path for him."

Fair Russia, a pro-Kremlin grouping, and two smaller parties - the Agrarians and Civil Force, both of which met Putin today, also backed Medvedev.