MOSCOW, Dec. 11 _ The Russian capital is one of the
world's great cities for theater, but this week the most striking
stagecraft in town was the performance by the Kremlin. Over

the past two days, Russians have watched the country's

political future unfold  in set-pieces complete with surprise appearances,

offstage voices and dubious protagonists. 

There's rising anticipation of a major  plot twist in the next act.

Unlike the Boris Yeltsin era, when politics was somewhere

between  improvisatory and truly chaotic, President Vladimir

Putin's eight years have been marked by carefully scripted performances.

This week  may stand as his magnum opus.
          

For more than a year, speculation has been intense over
whom the lame-duck Putin would anoint as his preferred successor in
next March's presidential elections. The announcement was expected

to come at a congress of his United Russia party next week.
          

But on Monday, state television unexpectedly showed Putin
sitting in an ornate office, wearing his usual poker face and
listening to remarks from leaders of United Russia and other parties.
Their faces weren't shown _ only Putin's as he listened to them
propose First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as their candidate.
          

"I completely and fully support this proposal," Putin
said. The format suggested that Putin was acceding to the counsel of
offstage wise men, like sages in ancient dramas. His utter lack of
emotion suggested otherwise _ that he had told the leaders what to
say before the cameras rolled.
          

The discrepancy underlined the complex persona that Putin
has developed _ a man who apparently craves control but wants

to look as if he's a servant of the people's will.
          

Medvedev, meanwhile, said he would meet with party leaders
the following day for "consultations," implying either that the
leaders still had doubts about him, or that he himself was unsure
whether to take the role. Although Putin's imprimatur virtually
guaranteed Medvedev's election, as of Monday he was still an
ill-defined character for the audience _ would he be an
independent-minded president or a handmaiden of Putin. Act Two
appeared to answer those questions.
          

Medvedev made only brief and vague public remarks at the
beginning of the consultations and journalists waiting for more were
told to go home. A couple of hours later, TV stations flashed that he
would be making an urgent statement in a few minutes. Sitting at a
desk with his hands folded in an echo of Putin's posture, Medvedev
said he "accepted" the nomination, called for the continuation of
Putin's policies and, then, the scene-closing climax: he called on
Putin to become prime minister after the elections.
          

As Medvedev spoke, Putin was in the Kremlin at a dull
ceremony accepting foreign ambassadors' credentials. It's difficult
to recall Putin ever ceding the spotlight to another politician.
Tantalizingly, Putin hasn't yet said whether he would "accept"
Medvedev's proposal. Although he's spoken in the past of possibly
becoming premier, there's at least one more act to come.
          

Putin this week is to make a rare trip to the capital of
Belarus for consultations with President Alexander Lukashenko on the
oft-postponed plans to form a union state of Belarus and Russia. Many

observers expect that the union will finally take place, meaning that
Putin could be president of a new country; others suspect that the
ever-vehement Lukashenko will play Iago, fouling the plans out of
sheer malice. The results of that meeting should be known Friday.
          

The audience are on the edge of their seats.