Yesterday, while we were busy watching the Sunday talk shows, Russians were voting for their next president. To the surprise of practically no one, the victor has already been announced: Dmitri Medvedev, the Kremlin’s current First Deputy Prime Minister and hand-picked protege of President Vladimir Putin.
Medvedev has been the heir apparent to the Putin throne for some time now, in part because there is a not-so-quiet official understanding that Putin will remain in the picture (as Prime Minister or in some other capacity). The watchword has been – and remains – continuity, rather than change.
The New York Sun’s Eli Lake has a good review of the election and its implications (including some quotes from yours truly) here.
