MOSCOW - Russia's parliament overwhelmingly approved President Vladimir Putin's choice as prime minister Friday, and the Russian leader said the previously obscure official was among at least five people who could hope to succeed him.
Viktor Zubkov, a Putin loyalist who ran Russia's anti-money-laundering office for six years, was nominated Wednesday in a surprise move by Putin.
Putin offered his stamp of approval Friday for Zubkov to pursue the presidency, but his comments suggested Zubkov was not necessarily a front-runner for Putin's backing in the March presidential vote.
"Now people are naming a minimum of five people who can realistically aspire to be elected president of Russia in March 2008," Putin said in televised remarks at his residence in the resort city of Sochi. "If one more realistic candidate emerges, then Russian citizens will be able to choose among several people."
Lawmakers voted 381-47 to approve Zubkov as premier -- a result that was expected in 450-seat State Duma, which is dominated by the Kremlin-controlled United Russia party and other Putin allies.
Zubkov's nomination on Wednesday, however, sparked political intrigue just months before the presidential vote. By dismissing former Premier Mikhail Fradkov and announcing his surprise choice for replacement, Putin apparently intended to show the country, particularly Kremlin factions jockeying for position before elections, that he will continue calling the shots.
Putin, who is barred from seeking a third term as president, had been expected to replace Fradkov with a more prominent figure, most likely former Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, who would then have been tapped to run as Putin's chosen successor.
But Putin's choice of Zubkov has instead muddied the political waters. And Zubkov added to the intrigue by saying Thursday he would not rule out a presidential bid -- a remark he would have been unlikely to make without Putin's approval.
The popular Putin has said he plans to retain influence over the nation's political scene after he steps down, and has not ruled out a presidential bid in 2012.
Zubkov's address to lawmakers before Friday's vote echoed that message: He underscored his loyalty to Putin, saying his priorities were those set out by Putin in his state-of-the nation speeches. Although he hinted that some unpopular ministers could be fired, he signaled no major policy changes, stressing the need to maintain stability -- a magic word for many Russians after the disorder that followed the 1991 Soviet collapse.
The government's main task is to "provide for the stability of economic and social development," Zubkov told lawmakers.
He also called for a more robust battle against corruption and pledged to boost the defense industry and Russia's struggling farms.
Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov told Zubkov his party would vote against confirmation "because you have agreed to pursue the old course -- and with the old course, Russia will not enter the 21st century." He suggested Zubkov was a mere marionette on strings pulled in the Kremlin, saying "they won't allow you to form your own team, because it will be formed by others."
The confirmation process lasted less than two hours and underscored the Kremlin's control over the Russian political process. Pro-Putin lawmakers praised Zubkov, posed easy questions and accepted his responses in rote exchanges that sometimes evoked the airless atmosphere of Soviet-era Communist Party meetings.
Shortly after the vote, Putin signed a decree naming Zubkov prime minister.
"As always, the Russian president chose the option that gives him the maximum possible freedom to maneuver," Alexei Makarkin, an analyst with the Center for Political Technologies, said in a commentary in the newspaper Vedomosti.
Zubkov, who turns 66 on Saturday, is much older than both Ivanov and another official seen as a presidential front-runner, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and could make a more convenient interim figure if Putin were planning a comeback in 2012 or even sooner.
In such a role, Zubkov "would not impose his will upon Putin's team, which would remain in power. And his age means that he would hand over power at any moment as ordered," Mark Urnov, president of the Expertiza think tank, said in a comment Friday in the daily Kommersant.
Putin was Zubkov's boss in the early 1990s in the St. Petersburg mayor's office.
For the past six years, Zubkov headed the Federal Financial Monitor Service, known as Russia's financial intelligence agency. Analysts say Zubkov's experience could help Putin keep control of financial flows to parties and interest groups amid campaigns for the December parliamentary elections and the presidential vote.
