President Vladimir Putin is expected to remain Russia’s predominant political figure, as he accepted the leadership of the dominant United Russia party. Nearly 600 party delegates at Tuesday’s congress approved his candidacy in unanimous vote. The position secures his power and Putin, 55, will be able to maintain his influence after he leaves the Kremlin and becomes Prime Minister.

“With gratitude I accept the proposal of the party members and their leadership.... I am ready to take on the additional responsibility and head United Russia,” he declared at the party congress, quoted by AFP.

United Russia controls two-thirds of the seats in parliament and utilizes major influence through its administrative and financial means. Dmitry Medvedev did not join the party, claiming such a move would be “premature,” and it was better for him to remain a non-party figure, BBC News reports. Medvedev is due to be sworn in as president on 7 May. Regarding his protégé’s decision, Putin said he did not believe it “is sensible for a head of state, wherever his political affections are, to lead a party. Here I fully agree with Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev.”

During his eight years in the Kremlin, Putin managed to centralize his power, with United Russia’s aid, as the party won a Constitutional majority with 63 percent of the vote in December elections.

“It [the appointment as party chairman] strengthens Putin's political weight as national leader. Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is leader of the state and of the Russian Federation, but the political leader of the country remains Putin,” a political analyst and United Russia member of parliament, Sergei Markov, told reporters after the congress.