“We considered it [reshuffle in power] as an agreement that was made between us, but not by our citizens,” Putin said in a televised interview with the heads of the three main Russian TV channels. “We propose this configuration and the people will decide whether they agree with this offer or not at the ballot box. The elections will decide everything.”
Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev have agreed to switch jobs. Medvedev proposed Putin for president at the congress of the ruling United Russia party in late September, saying he was ready to serve as prime minister.
It is expected that the United Russia party will announce Putin’s candidacy for presidential elections during the party’s congress on November 27.
Putin’s interview comes seven weeks before parliamentary elections scheduled for December 4. The United Russia party, led by then-president Vladimir Putin, won the previous parliamentary polls in 2007. International observers from the OSCE and the Council of Europe said at the time that the election was unfair and “failed to meet many OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and standards for democratic elections.”