Putin May Set Stage for 2012 Return as Leader of All-Russia People’s Front
NOVANEWS
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may be moving to reassert his control over the presidency next year by creating a broad coalition of supporters under his personal leadership as backing for the ruling party wanes.
Bloomberg.com
Putin, who handed the Kremlin to his protege, Dmitry Medvedev, in 2008 because of a ban on serving three consecutive terms, summoned leaders of business, labor and women’s groups to his residence over the weekend for meetings with officials of his United Russia party. The party needs fresh ideas and faces before December parliamentary elections, he said.
Broadening popular support is key to ensuring United Russia retains a majority in parliament and will bolster Putin’s position, said Olga Khrystanovskaya, a sociologist who studies Russia’s...
