Medvedev gives up deputy’s mandate

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who led the United Russia party ticket in the December 4 parliamentary elections, has given up his mandate as deputy, presidential spokeswoman Natalya Timakova has said. A source in the State Duma said on Monday that Medvedev’s seat in the State Duma may be handed over to Irina Yarovaya, a United Russia representative from the Far Eastern region of Kamchatka, who failed to make it into parliament. However, United Russia party leader Boris Gryzlov, who was the speaker in the previous Duma, later dismissed this. Medvedev, who has agreed to leave the president post in favor of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin after his first term expires in 2010, is widely expected to become prime minister in Russia’s next government. The United Russia party won almost half of the vote in the December 4 parliamentary vote, which secured it a simple majority in the State Duma with 238 seats out of 450.