Our Major Events of the Year:Change in Russian political leadership

Author: Inga Friedelhaus Section: Major Events of the Month

Issue: December 2008, Vol.3, No. 11

Tags: MedvedevPutin

print-friendly version

Executive Powers Transition

One of the most fundamental changes in Russia in 2008, in TRCW’s opinion, was the democratic transition of executive powers in the country’s political leadership. Having won the March election in landslide, Medvedev became the nation’s third president after his official inauguration on May 7. The subsequent appointment of the ex-president as the nation’s prime minister ushered in a political tandem, a sort of diarchy, which created an unprecedentedly stable political atmosphere for the continuation of the current domestic and foreign policies. The ongoing amendments to the Constitution, the first time since its adoption in 1993, are directed at cementing the existing political power structure in Russia.