Putin, Medvedev seal Kremlin-PM job swap

RUSSIA: Russia's new President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday won parliamentary approval for his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev to become prime minister, as protesters tried new tactics to keep up pressure on the Kremlin.

Russia's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly confirmed former head of state Medvedev as prime minister after he was nominated by Putin in accordance with a job swap agreement first announced in September. Medvedev was backed by 299 deputies in the State Duma with 144 voting against his nomination, sealing Russia's new power structure after Putin served as premier and Medvedev as president for the last four years.

In a dry speech in which he cited Marxist philosopher Friedrich Engels, Medvedev vowed: “We will have to consolidate society around the solution of key tasks, and prove that the state is inseparable from the people.” Putin aggressively defended the private decision to trade places, which added to the anger many Russians felt about fraud-tainted legislative polls in December followed by Putin's controversial March presidential election victory.

“This decision (on the job swap) was taken by me long ago, I have said this openly.

“We have changed nothing and presented nothing in front of society or parliament that could be called a trick or a political game,” said Putin. AFP