Kinda Like Nehru Family

Practicing placeholder democracy - until the successor ripens or for constitutional convenience.

Apparently Russia's president Vladimir Putin learned something from Sonia Gandhi - placeholder politics.

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin seems to quietly delight in stoking the fevered speculation about who will succeed him when he steps down, as he has promised to do, following presidential elections in March. Now Moscow is suddenly chattering about a new, unnamed prospect -- the loyal place-holder. Under that scenario, which Putin recently toyed with publicly, a new leader would keep his seat warm until 2012 -- or even sooner, as some have suggested, if Russia's next president were suddenly afflicted with nervous exhaustion or some other condition that forced him -- or her -- to resign. The Russian constitution only prevents Putin from serving more than two consecutive terms.[Washington Post]

Too bad General Pervez Musharraf doesn't seem to have this democratic option.