Putin's PM nominee doesn't rule out Presidential run

President Vladimir Putin’s choice for the prime minister’s post today said he would not rule out a run for the presidency, adding to the intrigue following his surprise nomination just months before parliamentary elections.

Asked whether he would be president, Viktor Zubkov said: “If I achieve something in this position, I do not rule out this scenario.”

Zubkov’s remark deepened the uncertainty Putin created yesterday by choosing his little-known ally to replace Mikhail Fradkov, the prime minister since 2004, ahead of December parliamentary elections and a March presidential vote in which he is barred from seeking a third straight term.

Russians had been expecting Putin to throw his support behind a favoured successor closer to the election, possibly by making him prime minister, and first deputy premiers Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev have been considered the leading contenders.

After the announcement of Zubkov’s nomination, analysts – citing his age and his obscurity – said he was less likely to be Putin’s favoured successor than a caretaker prime minister, perhaps to be replaced closer to the presidential vote.

But Putin himself was little-known when he began his swift ascent to power, and the Kremlin’s tight control over politics and the media means that it can swiftly groom a relatively obscure person for top office.