Putin gives up seat in parliament

Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during a ceremony to give state awards in the Kremlin in Moscow, Thursday, Dec. 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given up his lawmaker's mandate in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.

Media reports quote Sergei Konkin, the Secretary of the Central Election Commission, saying Putin has handed over his lawmaker's mandate.

Konkin also disclosed the CEC had received 101 applications from winning parliamentary candidates wanting to relinquish their mandates.

The United Russia Party, supported by Putin, scored a landslide victory in the December 2nd parliamentary elections, taking over 60 percent of the vote and 315 of 450 parliamentary seats.

According to law, any candidate must either reject their mandate or confirm their position as a State Duma deputy within five days of the official results of the polls being made public.

Observers had not expected Putin to take a parliament seat and saw his support for United Russia as a way to boost the party's electoral prospects.

Putin this week gave his endorsement to First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in the presidential contest. Medvedev in turn proposed Putin become prime minister.

Putin has yet to publicly responded to the proposal.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei