Russia is more than close to the classical constitutional checks and balances system between different branches of government said Vyacheslav Nikonov, the president of the fund 'Politika'.
“What we are getting now is a more divided system of government, with a more checks and balances, if you wish. With Medvedev becoming likely a strong President – since the President is the strongest political figure by definition – Putin becomes a strong Prime Minister, because he cannot be a weak figure, and it looks like we are getting a quite a strong legislative branch, headed by the United Russia faction, which has got more votes then ever in the parliamentary election. So in the next four years we are going to have more centers of power, and a more pluralistic system of government,” Nikonov said.