Medvedev Says He, Not Putin, Is in Charge
President Dmitry Medvedev has assured a BBC reporter that he is in charge of Russia even as his predecessor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, continues to wield enormous influence.
"I am leading the state, I am the head of state and the division of power is based on this," Medvedev said in an interview released Sunday in answer to a question about who was the boss. "It's the president who makes major decisions on behalf of the state. It's evident."
Medvedev, inaugurated in May, is finishing his first year as president after Putin endorsed him for the post. Medvedev had long served as Putin's chief and deputy chief of staff.
Medvedev declined to say whether he would run for another term in 2012.
"I would like to finish this term for a start and see what happens," he said, according to a transliteration of the tv interview posted on the Kremlin web site. "Only a person who believes his rule to be a success has the right to make such plans for a next term."
Medvedev said he would not intervene in the trial of former Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which starts this week. He said his role was limited to inasmuch as pardon pleas from convicts.
"When people make such appeals, it is my duty to consider them. That's it," he said.
A lawyer by training, Medvedev often played up his legal upbringing during the interview, but he declined to disclose any personal communication about himself.
"What's absorbing is always some fine, piquant details that people as a rule don't say about themselves," he said.
"I am leading the state, I am the head of state and the division of power is based on this," Medvedev said in an interview released Sunday in answer to a question about who was the boss. "It's the president who makes major decisions on behalf of the state. It's evident."
Medvedev, inaugurated in May, is finishing his first year as president after Putin endorsed him for the post. Medvedev had long served as Putin's chief and deputy chief of staff.
Medvedev declined to say whether he would run for another term in 2012.
"I would like to finish this term for a start and see what happens," he said, according to a transliteration of the tv interview posted on the Kremlin web site. "Only a person who believes his rule to be a success has the right to make such plans for a next term."
Medvedev said he would not intervene in the trial of former Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky, which starts this week. He said his role was limited to inasmuch as pardon pleas from convicts.
"When people make such appeals, it is my duty to consider them. That's it," he said.
A lawyer by training, Medvedev often played up his legal upbringing during the interview, but he declined to disclose any personal communication about himself.
"What's absorbing is always some fine, piquant details that people as a rule don't say about themselves," he said.
