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Putin returns to Kremlin amid protests
Monday May 07, 2012 03:43:23 PM,
RIA Novosti
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Moscow: Vladimir Putin was sworn in as Russia's president Monday in a
glittering Kremlin ceremony that took place less than 24 hours
after protesters opposed to his rule had battled police in
downtown Moscow.
"I swear on the power invested in me as president of the Russian
Federation to respect and protect the rights and freedom of its
citizens," Putin said, his right hand placed on a red-bound copy
of the Russian Constitution.
Russia's nuclear suitcase was handed over to Putin immediately
after his inauguration.
Putin's motorcade had earlier sped through empty streets locked
down by a heavy security presence on its way to the Kremlin State
Palace, where some 2,000 guests had gathered to witness his
inauguration for a six-year term.
Those assembled included Putin's handpicked successor, Dmitry
Medvedev, and Patriarch Kirill, head of Russia's powerful Orthodox
Church. Former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was also
in attendance.
"We are entering a new stage of national development," Putin said.
"We want to live in a democratic country…in a successful Russia."
Police made 120 arrests as some 200 people, including Yeltsin-era
deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov, protested Putin's return to
the presidency at separate locations near the Kremlin.
Putin was forced to step down in 2008 by a constitution that
forbids more than two subsequent terms, but is silent on further
periods in office. He shifted to the post of prime minister after
installing his hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, in the
Kremlin, but remained by far Russia's most powerful politician.
He won a landslide victory in the March 4 presidential elections
marred by allegations of vote fraud.
Medvedev said shortly before Putin's inauguration that the
authorities had become "more open to dialogue" during his
four-year rule. Russia's constitution was amended in 2008 to
increase the presidential term of office from four years to six.
Over 400 people were arrested and scores injured as Sunday's rally
against Putin's rule turned violent when protesters briefly broke
through police lines in a bid to take their protest to the Kremlin
walls. Putin's opponents accuse him of corruption and curtailing
political freedom.
Sunday's rally followed a series of unprecedented mass
anti-government protests this winter. Putin accused the US of
backing opposition leaders and dismissed demonstrators on national
television as "Bandar-log", a reference to the chattering monkeys
of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book.
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