President Putin unveiled his plan yesterday for holding on to power indefinitely with a bombshell announcement that he will run for parliament.

Mr Putin said that he would head the electoral list for the United Russia party in December’s parliamentary elections, adding that it was “entirely realistic” that he would go on to become prime minister.

The decision solves the Kremlin’s “succession problem”, paving the way for a weak figurehead to replace Mr Putin as president next March while he continues to govern Russia as a powerful prime minister.

It also raises the likelihood that Viktor Zubkov, who was plucked from obscurity by Mr Putin to become Prime Minister last month, will be endorsed as his successor in the Kremlin.

Expert View

By showing he will stay on the scene, he retains authority until his final day in office

Michael Binyon

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Mr Putin, 56, is barred by the Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term. But there is nothing to stop him taking charge as prime minister for four years before returning for two more terms as president.

Mr Zubkov, who is 66, expressed an interest in standing for the presidency shortly after his appointment. His age and loyalty to Mr Putin would make him an ideal stop-gap candidate.

Any sudden illness that forced him to retire from the presidency would even allow Mr Putin to return to the Kremlin in an early election.

The manoeuvre dashes the ambitions of senior politicians seen as successors. In particular, it leaves Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev, the two first deputy prime ministers, with no prospect of attaining the presidency unless they ran against Mr Putin’s nominated candidate.

Neither man is likely to opt for such a high-risk strategy. The anti-Putin opposition in The Other Russia, the coalition movement of the chess champion Garry Kasparov, has been banking on tensions to encourage a breakaway candidate.

Mr Putin’s announcement was clearly stage-managed but brought wild cheering at United Russia’s party congress. Asked to comment on a suggestion that he should head the party’s electoral list, he replied: “I gratefully accept your proposal.”

Mr Putin said that he was ready to lead the Government, but added: “It is still too early to think about it.” He continued: “Two conditions must be met first — United Russia must win the election and a decent, capable and modern person with whom I work as a team should be elected as president.”

Neither of those conditions is much of an obstacle. Mr Putin’s popularity almost ensures that United Russia will retain its two-thirds majority in the Duma, Russia’s parliament.

Whoever he endorses for president is equally certain of success in a campaign tightly controlled by the Kremlin, and with a pliant media.

Mr Putin is not obliged to take a seat in parliament under Russia’s electoral system. But analysts said that his decision to enter the race signalled a fundamental shift in the way Russia would be governed. They predicted that Russian politics would evolve into a system of parliamentary government with competing parties.

A White House spokesman said that Mr Putin’s decision was “ultimately a matter for the people of Russia”.

Financial markets reacted positively, believing Mr Putin had removed uncertainty surrounding the succession.

Winners and losers

Sergei Ivanov, 54
Post: First Deputy Prime Minister
Aspiration: President
Fallout: Hopes crushed. Destined to remain in shadow of Putin

Dmitri Medvedev, 42
Post: First Deputy Prime Minister
Aspiration: President
Fallout: End of the road. Future head of Gazprom?

Valentina Matviyenko, 58
Post: Governor of St Petersburg
Aspiration: To serve Putin
Fallout: Will stay to do Putin’s bidding in Russia’s second city

Viktor Zubkov, 66
Post: Prime Minister
Aspiration: Had none until Putin plucked him from the bureaucracy to be Prime Minister.
Fallout: President Zubkov?

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