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Owen Matthews
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Dec 10, 2007 09:12 PM
Vladimir Putin has made his choice: today he anointed Dmitry Medvedev as his chosen successor as president of Russia. With his customary knack for wrong-footing Kremlin watchers – and even apparently some members of his own inner circle - Putin made the announcement that he was backing his young ally with no preamble and little fanfare. And given Putin's personal popularity (close to 80% by some polls), the Kremlin's bear total control of Russia's electronic media and the lack of any serious political opposition, Medvedev's election next March is close to certain. An informal straw poll of Newsweek's rolodex of well-connected Russian journalists, lawyers and politicians today came up with a single answer – no-one had spoken to anyone who had even hinted that Putin's choice would be made so soon. There had been only one hint. Two weeks before the Parliamentary elections last week, a directive was issued to executives of Russia's state-run television stations canceling all leave and asking top newsreaders and editors not to leave on long foreign vacations in December and over New Year. Clearly the Kremlin was preparing to make some kind of announcement of Putin's successor well before the March presidential elections. But Putin, like the former spy that he is, kept news of exactly who it would be an absolute secret till the last minute.
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