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Russia's new PM could become president: speaker
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's new prime minister, Viktor Zubkov, could become president in 2008 and Vladimir Putin should return to office in 2012, the head of Russia's upper house of parliament said on Tuesday.
Putin has vowed to leave office in 2008 after two consecutive four-year terms as president, as the constitution stipulates, though he has hinted he wants to preserve influence and has refused to rule out returning to office in 2012.
Upper house speaker Sergei Mironov, a Putin ally, said he was deeply sorry that Putin would not stay on for a third straight term.
"I want Vladimir Putin to be the president in 2012," Mironov told reporters at a briefing which he interrupted to take what he said was a call from Putin.
When asked whether Zubkov could become president, Mironov said: "Why not -- I would fully allow that."
"It is fully possible. It all depends on how he does his work (as prime minister) and his wishes on the moment," Mironov said.
Investors are sifting news reports for any clues about who could become Russia's next president, but the Kremlin has given few hints.
Putin, 54, is expected to anoint a hand-picked successor. With Putin's huge popularity -- currently running at over 70 percent in opinion polls -- that candidate is likely to win the March presidential election.
But Putin surprised observers by appointing Zubkov, a little known 66-year-old former head of an anti-money laundering unit, as prime minister on Sept 14. Putin has said Zubkov is one of five people who could succeed him, though he didn't name them.
Mironov, a former geologist, has made his name by pushing for Putin to stay on for a third term, though Putin has repeatedly said he will leave office in 2008.
The constitution will be changed under the next president to allow a future president to serve for terms of up to seven years instead of four years, Mironov said.
Mironov, head of the pro-Putin Fair Russia party, said only three parties were likely to make it through a 7-percent barrier in elections to the lower house of parliament.
United Russia would win the most seats, followed by Fair Russia and then the Communist Party, Mironov said, adding that United Russia could split after the elections.
