Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a meeting with the Russian Chamber of Commerce leadership in the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. 
 (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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    MOSCOW, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has given up his lawmaker's mandate in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said on Thursday.

    "Vladimir Putin has given up his lawmaker's mandate to Sergei Kapkov, who was on United Russia's regional list and ran his election campaigned in the Magadan region and the Chukotka Autonomous Area," secretary of the CEC Sergei Konkin was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

PM: Proposal that Putin become premier reasonable

Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov. He said that the proposal that Russian President Vladimir Putin become prime minister after the end of his presidential term is reasonable. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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    MOSCOW, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The proposal of Russian President Vladimir Putin becoming prime minister after the end of his presidential term is reasonable, Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said on Wednesday in the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk.

Putin's nominated successor proposes Putin as PM

    MOSCOW, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Dmitry Medvedev, nominated as a candidate for next March's presidential election, has proposed Russian President Vladimir Putin as prime minister after he leaves the Kremlin, while vowing to maintain policy continuity.

Putin supports Medvedev's running for president

    MOSCOW, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday he would support First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to run for president, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Key words: elections; party; Medvedev