President Vladimir Putin has dissolved the Russian government on the request of the prime minister.
It is expected that the resulting new head of government will be seen as Putin's chosen successor once he steps down in the spring.
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov said he asked for the dissolution because with elections approaching, Putin needed to have a free hand to make decisions, including those concerning appointments.
Putin then said:
"You might be right that we must all think about how to structure the government so that it better suits the pre-election period and prepares the country for what will happen after the parliamentary and presidential elections."
Under the Constitution, Putin now has two weeks to propose a new head of government
One of the leading contenders for succeeding Putin is Dmitry Medvedev, a top executive at OAO Gazprom.
Story from The Independent:
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2954274.ece
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1 comment:
Why does this make me nervous? Why? Hmmm....
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