http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070912/78310871.html

MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted Wednesday a request from Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov to dismiss the government and form a new Cabinet.

The president thanked Fradkov for his service as prime minister, and asked him to stay on as acting premier until the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, votes in a new candidate.

Putin said: "The country is nearing parliamentary elections to be followed by presidential elections... We all need to think together about building the power and governing structure so that they can better meet the needs of the pre-election period, and prepare the country for the time after parliamentary and presidential elections in March 2008."

In submitting his request at a meeting with Putin, Fradkov said the government's dissolution was needed due to upcoming political events, and the need to give the president freedom in making decisions, including staffing changes.

Respected business daily Vedomosti on Wednesday cited a source close to the Kremlin as saying First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov would be appointed as the new premier.

i confess i lack the context to appreciate properly. does this happen often in russia? and what does this mean?

Fradkov said he asked for the dissolution of the government because with elections approaching, Putin needed to have a free hand to make decisions, including those concerning appointments.

that doesn't sound very democratic.

Putin nominates financial monitor Zubkov for PM post -1
17:00 | 12/ 09/ 2007

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(Recasts headline, adds details in paras 3-5)

MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin nominated Wednesday the head of the country's financial regulator, Viktor Zubkov, for the post of prime minister.

The lower house of parliament could vote in the new premier on Friday, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said.

Zubkov heads the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, and comes as an unexpected candidate following widely-circulated rumors that First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov would take the post.

The president dismissed Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov earlier Wednesday, following a request from the premier, and asked him to stay on as acting head of government until the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, votes in a new candidate.

First Deputy Speaker of the State Duma Oleg Morozov said the new premier could later run for president. "It would be logical if the prime minister became a presidential candidate," he said, adding that other scenarios should not be ruled out.

Russia Tests Powerful 'Dad of All Bombs'

AP - It was the latest show of Russia's military muscle amid chilly relations with the United States.

Channel One television said the new weapon, nicknamed the "dad of all bombs" is four times more powerful than the U.S. "mother of all bombs."

"The tests have shown that the new air-delivered ordnance is comparable to a nuclear weapon in its efficiency and capability," said Col.-Gen. Alexander Rukshin, a deputy chief of the Russian military's General Staff, said in televised remarks.

Unlike a nuclear weapon, the bomb doesn't hurt the environment, he added.

( leaftree has posted news article: here)

_{1."George Washington did not cross the Delaware for Capitalism," -Shmuley Boteach.
2.The Dems haven't punished the GOP enough, so you're going to reward the Republicans?}

AP

By MIKE ECKEL – 2 hours ago

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday replaced his long-serving prime minister with an obscure Cabinet official — a surprise move that could put him in the running to succeed Putin in next year's presidential election.

The nomination of Viktor Zubkov, who currently oversees the government's fight against money laundering, appeared to have caught much of the Russian political elite off-guard.

Putin had been expected to announce in December whom he would back to run for president next year — and Russia's two first deputy prime ministers — former Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov and gas giant Gazprom board chairman Dmitry Medvedev — were widely considered to be the leading contenders.

"All expected successors had an awkward moment as Putin again showed that he's a master of disinformation," analyst Stanislav Belkovsky said on Ekho Moskvy radio.

The unexpected choice left pundits guessing whether Zubkov would serve as a stopgap figure without any political weight or would be groomed as the next president. Putin is constitutionally barred from a third straight term, but could seek to return in 2012 or even earlier if his successor steps down before his term ends.

Some analysts and political figures suggested that Putin may have picked up Zubkov as a convenient figurehead to keep ruling from behind the scenes after stepping down as president.

"The appointment of a person without political face as prime minister of a great nation in this difficult time means that the president is the only source of power," said Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of the liberal Yabloko party. "The appointment is a move toward the effective extension of Vladimir Putin's rule even after his authority formally ends."

Sergei Ivanenko, a leading member of Yabloko, said the appointment of Zubkov resembled Putin's own appointment as prime minister by former President Boris Yeltsin in 1999. Several months later, Putin took helm as acting president and then won his first election.

"That gives a deja vu feeling," Ivanenko said.

Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov, meanwhile, said Putin would be unlikely to name Zubkov as his successor and his appointment meant only that the president was still hesitant about the choice.

Putin dissolved the Cabinet of his long-serving Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov earlier in the day, saying he needed to appoint a government better suited to the election campaign and to "prepare the country" for life after the parliamentary elections on Dec. 2 and the presidential vote three months later.

State Duma speaker Boris Gryzlov backed the 65-year-old Zubkov's nomination, saying his "life path and professional activities in various fields undoubtedly allow him to lead the Cabinet of the Russian Federation."

He said the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, would vote on the nomination Friday.

Zubkov's position in the Cabinet was relatively obscure; the Financial Monitoring Service he headed is an arm of the Finance Ministry that investigated money laundering.

Zubkov also served under Putin when the two worked in the city administration of St. Petersburg in the early 1990s. Putin has regularly tapped former colleagues from St. Petersburg to head top posts in the government.

Putin is wildly popular among Russians, having brought stability and relative prosperity to the country after the often-chaotic Yeltsin years. As a result, whoever is nominated for the presidency by Putin is expected to win easily.

Russia been a democracy?

Democracy, Russian-style Closest would be a 'Managed' or 'Manipulated' Style of Democracy

If the Kremlin favours a third term for Putin, it is sure to erode the legitimacy of the entire system that the country is built on. Another scenario involves the creation of two power centres in Russia, namely, the old president and the new one. It can be argued that, on account of Putin’s young age, it is a foregone conclusion that such a scenario will emerge. Putin may think he will select a malleable successor, but history has proven thus far that such a situation has never worked in Russia.

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My grandmother married a white russian as her second husband. He had escaped from Russia during the Boxer Rebellion, but never did know anything about democracy. He stopped beating her only after he was threatened by my grandmother's daughters and make no mistake, they would have killed him had he not stopped. All four daughters despised their Russian step-father with a passion.