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It's official. Vladimir Putin was nominated by his United Russia Party to retake the controls in the Kremlin in March 2012. He is basically a shoo-in to be Russia's next president, a title he held just five years ago and will likely hold for the next 8 years if re-elected.
Currently Russia's Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin said that his entire adult life was aimed at serving the "Fatherland."
"Our motto is 'Never look back!' Thank you... We will win together," he said.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's president, will likely be nominated as Putin's Prime Minister.
The agreement to switch roles was made four years ago, when Medvedev was just getting his feet wet in Red Square.
“We considered the reshuffling of power as an agreement that was made between us, but not by our citizens,” Putin said in a televised interview with the heads of the three main Russian TV channels in October. “We propose this configuration and the people will decide whether they agree with this offer or not at the ballot box. The elections will decide everything.”
Putin cited examples of other long-serving world leaders, like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was elected president four times before congress amended the Constitution to allow for only two terms. Helmut Kohl served as Germany's Chancellor for 16 years.
Putin offered his argument against the left- and right-wing opponents from the Communist and Liberal Democratic parties.
First, he called on the electorate not to lose heart, promising that his agreement with President Medvedev to swap places on the ticket does not predetermine the elections' outcome.
Second, he reminded those who would cast their votes for communists and left-wing parties that it was the Soviet Communist Party's policies that "led to the downfall and collapse of the country," with rationing instituted for all basic necessities. In a warning to the entire radical opposition Putin said that acting as if "things cannot get any worse" is irresponsible, recalling that this attitude resulted in social upheavals in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ria Novosti reported.
Washington has no qualms with either leader. Remember that former President George W. Bush once saw inside Putin's soul immediately following the Sept. 11, 2011 terrorist attacks on the U.S.
"The question of who will be the next Russian president should be for the Russian people to determine," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said in September, following Putin and Medvedev's announcement of the planned role reversal.
"We will continue to build on the progress of the reset whoever serves as the next president of Russia, because we believe that it is in the mutual interests of the United States and Russia and the world."
See: Putin Hopes For Support In 2012 Presidential Polls--Ria Novosti
Putin Says He Deserves Russia's Support--The New York Times
