Thaindian News

Moscow, Apr.14 (ANI): Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced that he could run for the Russian presidency again in 2012.

Putin’s announcement comes a day after current president Dmitry Medvedev also expressed his desire to run for the post next year.

“Neither myself nor Dmitry exclude that each of us could stand for election,” Putin said, adding, “We will take into account the realities of the current situation at the moment of the elections.”
“Of course, this decision should be taken sooner or later. But there is almost a year before the polls, and all this fuss does not contribute to a normal working structure,” he said.
Medvedev was put forward as a presidential candidate in 2008 by Putin himself, as he could not run for a third consecutive presidential term. However, he is now eligible to run two back-to-back six-year terms.

Putin who is still regarded as Russia’s most powerful politician, said it was best to delay a decision for as long as possible to avoid disruptions in government.

“If we give wrong signals now half the [Kremlin's] administration and half the government will stop working in expectation of changes,” The Telegraph quoted Putin as saying.

The two men have always said that they would decide which of them would run among themselves, vowing not to stand against one another. But recent differences over Libya and Medvedev’s removal of a key Putin ally from the board of Rosneft, a major oil company, have raised speculations of a growing split. (ANI)