Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s new president

MOSCOW (Reuters Sun Mar 2, 2008) – Russia’s next president Dmitry Medvedev pledged to uphold Vladimir Putin’s policies on Monday after winning an election critics said was stage-managed to let the outgoing Kremlin leader keep his grip on power.

But it is still not clear which of the two would really be in charge of the vast, nuclear-armed country as their power-sharing arrangement is unusual for a nation used to a single, strong leader.

Many Russians are enjoying the benefits of the biggest economic boom in a generation — fuelled largely by oil exports — and they see Medvedev as the natural heir to Putin and the best chance of hanging on to their new-found prosperity.

“This is a secret service KGB operation to transfer power from one person to another,” former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who was disqualified from the ballot, told Reuters…

Reuters