Duma ratifies Zubkov as new PM

President Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a decree formally appointing Viktor Zubkov as the new Prime Minister after the Duma overwhelmingly approved him by a 381-47 vote with eight abstentions.

All the parliamentary factions except the Communists and the nationalist Fatherland-Patriot bloc voted for Zubkov. Putin had nominated his close ally Zubkov as Prime Minister after removing Mikhail Fradkov on Wednesday in the run up to the parliamentary elections on December 2 and presidential poll on March 2, when he steps down after two consecutive terms. On Friday he also confirmed that Zubkov was “one of the five candidates who could succeed him”.