Medvedev wins Russian presidential vote in Putin's shadow
Monday, 03 Mar 2008 09:45
Dmitry Medvedev (right) pledges to continue policies of Vladimir Putin after Russian presidential election win
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Russians have chosen Dmitry Medvedev to replace Vladimir Putin as president in a landslide election win.
With virtually all ballot papers counted, former first deputy prime minister Mr Medvedev has 70 per cent of the vote, the country's election commission said.
Communist challenger Gennady Zyuganov was a distant second on 18 per cent amid claims of election fraud.
Mr Putin was re-elected in controversial circumstances four years ago and observers, mostly banned in Russia, have claimed voters were being offered food and company bosses driving workers to polling stations to achieve a turnout of more than two-thirds.
Two leading opposition candidates - Garry Kasparov and Mikhail Kasyanov - were also barred from standing against Mr Medvedev altogether after the authorities found irregularities in signatures required for them to contest the election.
In a rally in Moscow's Red Square as the extent of Mr Medvedev's victory became apparent, he pledged a "direct continuation" of his predecessor's eight years in power.
Former KGB spymaster Mr Putin was constitutionally barred from running for president after two consecutive terms, but is expected to be named as Mr Medvedev's prime minister and could return to the Kremlin in 2012.
But Mr Medvedev told reporters "the place of the prime minister and the government is in the White House [government headquarters]".
Nevertheless, the Gazprom chairman admitted his power-sharing deal with Mr Putin would see the two men work in "effective tandem".
Mr Putin's time in the Kremlin has seen many Russians profit from an accompanying economic boom, while others have been left behind in poverty.
His eight years in power have also seen Moscow engage in a more confrontational foreign policy with the west, including the politicisation of energy supplies and a sympathetic stance towards
Iran's nuclear activities.
"We should pursue independent foreign policies, the ones we had in the past eight years, with the main goal of protecting our national interests on all fronts by all possible means, but of course sticking to legal rules," Mr Medvedev said.
"You can describe some elements of my position in different ways, but it seems to me that it will be a direct continuation of that path which was carried out and is being carried out by President Putin."