A mere 3 hours after stepping down from the presidency to make way for Putin's hand-picked successor, Dmitri Medvedev nominated Putin as Prime Minister. Only 23 hours later, Mr. Putin was approved as Prime Minister receiving 392 votes in the 450-seat Duma, Parliament’s lower house.
In a speech directly before the parliamentary vote, Putin focused on economic matters, per BBC News:
Mr Putin told parliament that he would strive for "single-digit inflation within a few years".
He said Russia could overtake the UK in terms of GDP this year. Reducing the tax burden and widening the shareholder class were further priorities, he said.
To no one's surprise, Putin seeks to maintain his influence even under the new title.
Analysts say the powers of the prime minister will expand under Mr Putin, and he may in effect govern Russia jointly with the president.
Mr Medvedev told the deputies: "I don't think anyone doubts that our tandem, our co-operation will only strengthen."
Some speculate that the relationship may experience some bumps in the road:
Although Putin and Medvedev are political allies, some analysts have said that the partnership could be unstable.
After he won the presidency in March, Medvedev said only the president would determine foreign policy, but Putin has called the prime minister's office the "highest executive power in the country".
Yet, at Medvedev's inauguration, Putin did hand over the country's prize:
Shortly after he took the presidential office, Medvedev was presented with a briefcase containing controls for Russia's nuclear arsenal.
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