Putin sworn in as Russian president

Russia’s newly sworn-in President Vladimir Putin on Monday proposed his Kremlin predecessor Dmitry Medvedev as the country’s new prime minister under a job swap agreement that sparked protests last year. The lower house of parliament’s speaker Sergei Naryshkin said Putin submitted Medvedev’s name for confirmation shortly after taking the oath of office for a third Kremlin term. Putin was expected to personally present Medvedev’s candidacy when the State Duma holds a special session that may include an official vote on Tuesday. The Duma is all but certain to approve the candidacy after both the ruling United Russia party and the LDPR group of the veteran populist Vladimir Zhirinovsky promised to support Putin’s choice. Medvedev now has the support of about 290 lawmakers in the 450-seat chamber while needing only a simply 226 vote majority to become Putin’s premier. Putin had served as Medvedev’s prime minister after ceding his Kremlin seat to his close ally upon completing his constitutionally-mandated first two terms as president between 2000 and 2008.