By Guy Faulconbridge
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's biggest party will askPresident Vladimir Putin to become its leader this week at aconference that could provide the final clue in the riddle ofwho will really run Russia after Putin steps down.
Putin has said he will serve as prime minister once hisprotege, Dmitry Medvedev, is sworn in as president on May 7.But for many investors the critical questions of how much powerPutin will wield and for how long remain unanswered.
If Putin does accept the invitation from the United Russiaparty to become its leader, it would significantly entrench hispower and indicate, some analysts say, that he is planning touse that position to preserve his long-term influence.
Turning down the job could suggest that Putin, after atrial period to make sure 42-year-old Medvedev settles into theKremlin job, is planning to take a back seat.
The Kremlin has given no indications about whether Putinwill lead the party. Putin is expected to attend the second dayof the conference, which opens on Monday.
"If Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin headed United Russia, itwould be the very best option," Boris Gryzlov, the head ofUnited Russia and the speaker of the lower house of parliament,told a news conference last week.
"Such a proposal (for Putin to head the party) willprobably be made at the congress. I could myself make theproposal and that would be the correct way," Gryzlov said.
Putin used a United Russia conference last year to announcehe could serve as premier once his presidency, limited by theconstitution to two consecutive terms, came to an end.
Putin, 55, is the country's most popular politician afterpresiding over Russia's longest economic boom for a generationand cementing Kremlin control after the chaos of the 1990s. Hiscritics, a minority in Russia, accuse him of crushingdemocracy.
Investors want to know what Putin's final role will beafter he steps down because they see political stability as keyto Russia's booming $1.3 trillion (661 billion pound) economy.
RIDDLE NOT SOLVED
Kremlin-watchers believe the riddle of what Putin will donext is still not fully solved because the post of primeminister is an awkward one for someone so powerful.
The prime minister is junior to the president, can besacked at the president's whim and often carries the can forpolicy failures. Putin filled the post with a series oflow-level technocrats all seen as expendable.
Some analysts see United Russia leadership as a way forPutin to preserve long-term influence by moulding the party,closely tied to the Kremlin since its creation, into a powerfulpolitical force in its own right.
The president can sack the prime minister but he has toseek the approval of parliament -- controlled by United Russia-- to appoint a new premier. The party has the two thirdsmajority required to amend the constitution.
Others say the party's influence and unity could dissolveif the new Kremlin administration withdraws its support.
Putin helped found the party, which was designed in thelast days of former President Boris Yeltsin's rule to ensurethe Kremlin's control of parliament.
Russia's Vedomosti newspaper reported on Friday that Putincould take a leadership role in the party without being amember.
The paper cited unidentified Kremlin and party officials assaying that United Russia was preparing to create the post of"non-member party leader" who would define strategy rather thantake part in day-to-day management.
There is a precedent for leadership of a party, rather thanany state position, providing the lever of power in Russia. Formuch of the 20th century, the leader of the Soviet Communistparty held sway over all state institutions.
(Editing by Alison Williams)
