Putin Nominates Medvedev As Prime Minister

MOSCOW -- Newly inaugurated Russian President Vladimir Putin has nominated former president Dmitry Medvedev for the post of prime minister.

Putin submitted Medvedev's name to the State Duma immediately after he was sworn in as president on May 7.

During the campaign, Putin had pledged to install his political partner Medvedev as prime minister.

The State Duma lower house of parliament has scheduled an extraordinary session for May 8, during which Putin will personally present Medvedev to lawmakers.

Medvedev was  due to meet with Duma faction leaders on May 7 to discuss his program.

Also on May 7, acting Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov submitted his resignation to Putin, as did the entire cabinet.

All ministers, however, will continue in office until a new government is approved.

Putin, the outgoing prime minister who served two presidential terms between 2000 and 2008, was sworn in for a third term in as Russian president in a lavish ceremony.

'My Whole Life'

In a brief speech following his oath of office, Putin pledged to strengthen democracy in Russia.

"I will do all I can to justify the faith of millions of our citizens," he said. "I consider it the meaning of my whole life and my duty to serve my fatherland and our people."

He said Russia is entering "a new stage of national development" and that the next few years will be "decisive" for the country.

PHOTO GALLERY: Putin Through The Years
??Some 3,000 guests, including Federation Council members, State Duma deputies, and justices of the Supreme and Constitutional courts, attended the ceremony at the Kremlin. 

Putin's wife, Lyudmila also made a rare public appearance alongside her husband. 

Following the event, Putin and his wife went to the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kremlin, to get blessing from the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill. 

Patriarch told the newly-sworn president that he enjoyed people's confidence.

"The president's legitimacy is grounded in the trust of the people," he said. "You have that trust."

On his first official meeting on the day he was sworn in as president, Putin met the head of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge.

Putin's office said he assured Rogge during their meeting that hosting the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi remains one of Putin's top priorities.

Putin was a key figure behind Russia's successful bid to host the Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in 2014. During the past four years as prime minister he continued to oversee the preparations.

Meanwhile, police in Moscow arrested dozens of opposition supporters as new protest actions broke out May 8 against the newly-elected president.

Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was among the arrested, but he was later been released without any official accusation.

Minor scuffles went on throughout the day in Moscow between anti-Putin protesters and groups of pro-Kremlin youth with signs "Putin Loves Everybody" around their necks.

Thousands of people attended a mass opposition rally in the capital on the eve of Putin's inauguration.

With reporting by Interfax, ITAR-TASS, and AFP