Russia’s next president Dmitry Medvedev pledged to uphold Vladimir Putin’s policies on Monday after a big election win that critics said was stage-managed to let the outgoing Kremlin leader keep his grip on power. Medvedev (42) who will be the youngest Russian leader since Tsar Nicholas II when he is sworn in on May 7, has asked former KGB spy Putin to be his prime minister.
Dmitry Medvedev was elected as Russia’s next president, early results showed on Sunday, after a vote that will preserve the power of his mentor President Vladimir Putin but which opponents said was unfair. Medvedev, a 42-year-old former lawyer who has worked at Putin’s side since the 1990s, will take over the trappings of the Presidency from his patron in May.
The Kremlin is planning to falsify the results of Sunday’s presidential election by compelling millions of public-sector workers to vote and by fraudulently boosting the official turnout, a media report said. Governors, regional officials and even headteachers have been instructed to deliver a landslide majority for Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister.
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/ 27 February 2008
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, whose victory in Sunday’s presidential election is all but assured, on Wednesday took a day out from his unofficial campaign … in order to campaign. National television showed Medvedev responding to the audience’s queries about pensions and salaries.
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/ 12 February 2008
When Vladimir Putin drives to work every morning from his presidential bungalow he doesn’t pass the poor, the needy or the hungry. Instead, he passes Gucci, Armani and Prada. In the unlikely event that his presidential Mercedes breaks down, he could pop into Barvikha Luxury Village, an elite shopping complex just down the road from Putin’s dacha.
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/ 3 December 2007
President Vladimir Putin appeared to be heading for a landslide victory in Russia’s parliamentary elections on Sunday night amid widespread reports that millions of citizens were coerced into voting for his party, United Russia. Early results from the Central Election Commission indicated the party was leading with 63% of votes.