The Russian Federation: President Medvedev hints at the possibility of him standing for election in 2012

In an interview for Chinese state-run TV, broadcast on 12 April, President Dmitri Medvedev suggested he may seek re-election in the election in 2012 and admitted that there are differences between him and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the precise model of the development path for Russia. Dmitri Medvedev pointed to the necessity for gradual change in the Russian political and economic system and suggested that the present model has exhausted its possibilities. These declarations show that various scenarios of the development of the political situation in Russia are currently possible: either one of the two leaders (Medvedev or Putin) will stand for election in 2012, or both will be candidates.

In comparison with Dmitri Medvedev's previous statements about his possible candidacy in the election, the present declaration is more unequivocal in suggesting such a possibility. The president said the time for change had come and Russia had to change and no political system can last forever. He recognised that the model established for the first decade of the 21^st century would not work after the global economic crisis. Medvedev estimated that a lack of change (meaning the preservation of the system created by Putin) would lead to stagnation, as dangerous for Russia as the one in the USSR in the 1980s. The president also drew attention to the necessity of changing political and economic personnel and announced that Russia did not intend to build state capitalism. Medvedev's statements prove that he is not going to give up seeking re-election and the question of succession in 2012 remains open. <MaK>