Dmitry Medvedev is a former law professor who was handpicked by Vladimir Putin to be his successor. While Medvedev has indicated he is more liberal than Putin, the question remains: as president, would he push for real changes or merely act on behalf of Putin, who was barred from serving a third consecutive presidential term by the Russian constitution. (Vladimir Rodionov/Presidential Press Service)

Dmitry Medvedev looks on during a meeting in 2007. In the year before the 2008 presidential election, Medvedev spoke of the need for 'full democracy' and complained of 'legal nihilism' in Russia. However, experts said it wasn't clear what he stood for. (Associated Press)

Dmitry Medvedev is soft-spoken former law professor who has risen in the ranks of Russian politics because he is a protege of Vladimir Putin. He was handpicked by Putin in 2007 to be his successor. Before Russia's presidential election on March 2, 2008, long before a ballot was cast, Medvedev was called "Russian's next president" and heavily favoured to win.

Medvedev, a 42-year-old who comes from an academic family, is mostly defined in Russia by what he is not. He does not have a background in the security forces. He is not said to be charismatic. He reportedly has never raised his voice to a subordinate. He does not bark orders. He is not stern. His style is described as softer and gentler than that of Putin. He is said to be intelligent, competent and calm.

What he stands for, and whether his publicly stated positions would lead to reforms, is not yet clear. Medvedev is largely a man of mystery. He has spoken of "full democracy," he has complained of "legal nihilism" in Russia, he has made mention of the need for a "unified state."

But political observers said Putin would most likely remain the boss in the Kremlin regardless of who won the presidential election: Medvedev or his rivals, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Gennady Zyuganov and Andrei Bogdanov.

Medvedev is clearly Putin's chosen man. He has served as Russian first deputy prime minister, a position created for him by Putin in 2005, when Putin made him responsible for "national projects." And during the run-up to the 2008 election, Medvedev said that if victorious, he would ask Putin to become prime minister.

Aurel Braun, a professor of political science and international relations at the University of Toronto, told CBC News that even if Medvedev wanted to distance himself from Putin and carry out real changes, he currently lacks the strength.

"He is creature of Putin. He doesn't have an independent power base. He is an appointee. He's not there because he's earned the position. He has not built a power base from which he could counter Putin," Braun said.

"Could he create a group of loyalists around himself? If not, he will be an administrative president, working to ensure a third term for Putin."

Hints of liberal leanings

'We are fully aware that no undemocratic country has ever become truly prosperous, and this for the simple reason that it is better to have freedom than not to have it.'

— Dmitry Medvedev

In speeches, Medvedev has indicated he is more liberal than Putin. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 27, 2007, he said: "Today we are building new institutions based on the fundamental principles of full democracy."

He went further: "This democracy requires no additional definition. This democracy is effective and is based on the principles of the market economy, supremacy of the law and government that is accountable to the rest of society. We are fully aware that no undemocratic country has ever become truly prosperous, and this for the simple reason that it is better to have freedom than not to have it."

He is also on the record as saying he would like to improve the rule of law, to support civil society and to fight corruption. His presidential campaign slogan, "Forward, Russia," suggests he is interested in progress.

In a speech in Moscow on Dec. 11, 2007, Medvedev said he wants to decrease poverty, improve health care and education, and to raise living standards in rural areas.

Much has also been made of his musical tastes, in part because some seized on them as a sign that Medvedev was more modern and hipper than his predecessors. He is a devoted fan of hard rock and cites Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin among his favourites. These bands would have been on the state-issued blacklists during Medvedev's Soviet-era schooldays, but he has said he had taped copies, perhaps from bootleggers. Today, he collects the bands' original vinyls and said in an interview with Russian magazine Itogi that he had amassed all of Deep Purple's recordings.

But the question remains: will Medvedev emerge from Putin's shadow and be his own man?

'Liberal reformer' or 'complete figurehead'?

'I don't want to say he'll be a complete figurehead, but I think that they've worked together for so long and they share a lot of the same values that they just sort of work in tandem. This is the safe bet for Putin.'

— Political science professor Gary Wilson

Experts say Medvedev would likely be a transitional president with real power vested in Putin, who is barred from serving a third consecutive term as president by the Russian constitution.

Medvedev, in his Dec. 11 speech, did not dispel the idea that he would be anything but deferential to Putin, saying it is "extremely important" for Russia to keep Putin in the "most important position" as chairman of Russia's government.

Gary Wilson, a political science professor at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George, B.C., said Medvedev is presenting himself as slightly more modern than Putin.

"He certainly comes across as being very honest, very competent, very educated and cultured. He's young, he's sort of considered a liberal reformer, someone who is supportive of reforms towards a market economy, towards democracy, a democracy in which a leader plays a very strong role."

However, like the University of Toronto's Braun, Wilson said he sees Medvedev as completely dependent on Putin for power. While Medvedev is viewed as a competent politician, he is a first and foremost a Putin loyalist, Wilson said.

"I think they'll work closely together to achieve the goals that they set out. I don't want to say he'll be a complete figurehead, but I think that they've worked together for so long and they share a lot of the same values that they just sort of work in tandem," he said.

"This is the safe bet for Putin."

Wilson said that if Putin accepted the offer to become prime minister, there could be a power reversal in the Russian government. He said that while the constitution was structured for a strong president and a weaker prime minister, Putin could use his party's large majority in the legislature to override the presidential veto, should there ever be one.

"If Putin decides to become prime minister, I think Medvedev would be a very compliant president," he said, adding that Putin "could be pretty powerful as a leader."

The early years

Medvedev was born in 1965 in St. Petersburg (then known as Leningrad) and is the son of two university professors. He was a top student who went on to receive a law degree from St. Petersburg University in 1987 and completed a doctorate in law in 1990.

Vladimir Putin, right, speaks with Medvedev at a congress of municipalities in Moscow on Oct. 23, 2007. (Mikhail Metzel/Associated Press)

He taught law at St. Petersburg University before entering government in the early 1990s. He joined Putin, an ex-intelligence officer who was then a young bureaucrat in the office of Anatoly Sobchak, then mayor of St. Petersburg.

The professional relationship between the two continued when, in 1999, Putin became president. Medvedev served in several posts in the Putin government, including deputy chief of staff to the president, chief of staff and first deputy prime minister.

Since 2000, he has also been chairman of the board of directors of the state's natural-gas monopoly, Gazprom.

He is married to his secondary-school sweetheart, Svetlana, and they have a son, Ilya, born in 1996.

Election denounced as farce

Officially nominated as a presidential candidate in Dec. 17, 2007, Medvedev had the support of four Russian political parties going into the election: the ruling United Russia party and three smaller pro-Kremlin parties, A Just Russia, Agrarian Party of Russia and Civil Force Party.

Despite the official endorsement, some experts decried the election as a farce.

In an opinion piece published in the Moscow Times on Feb. 27, 2008 — headlined A Stolen Election — John Hopkins University professors Mitchell Orenstein and Serhiy Kudelia wrote that Medvedev was being "painted as a new liberal" but none the four presidential candidates represented real change.

The University of Toronto's Braun said the election process itself was negative because it was not transparent. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe announced in early February that it was not going to send observers to monitor the election, citing a lack of co-operation from Moscow.

"This is not the way you run an election," Braun said.

He said the less-than-open election is an attempt to create a political duo in which Putin is the bad cop, while Medvedev is the good cop.

But a headline in the Feb. 28, 2008, issue of the London-based newsmagazine The Economist suggests that Medvedev may first have to establish himself as a presence. The headline read: "Russia's new president, the name's Dmitry."

Too early to guess

Braun said political scientists have been poring over statements made by Medvedev to discern political leanings. However, he added that it is all speculation.

"We are trying to deconstruct his messages. Even if he is more Liberal than Putin, will he have the capacity to implement reforms? It's way too early to predict. It's almost like reading tea leaves. You dissect every word; you parse every sentence. There are suggestions of intent, but there is the question of capacity," he said.

"We have to look closely at what is happening. We have to analyze statements, but we have to look at actual policy. Right now, we are guessing."

[an error occurred while processing this directive]