President Vladimir V. Putin has endorsed as his successor today Dmitri A. Medvedev, a young protégé with no background in the state security services and virtually no power base in the Kremlin. Yes, everything that Medvedev has is owed to Putin. There is no Medvedev without Putin.
The president endorsed Medvedev, a first deputy prime minister, at a meeting with party leaders today. This declaration is virtually guaranteeing that he will win a landslide victory in the March 2 election.
Medvedev is more liberal and less hawkish towards the west than Sergei Ivanov, the other contender.
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."
The speculation about Putin's future has included the possibility that he could try to return as president. That possibility seemed potentially strengthened by the announcement about Medvedev, said to Pravda Vladimir Ryzhkov, a prominent liberal politician.
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