Who has more executive power? The Russian President or the Russian Prime Minister

Question

My guess it's Putin.

Why have a President and a Prime Minister at the same time?

How does this work for other countries like England, Australia, India, France, China etc?

Thanks

Answer 1

On paper, the President, in reality, Putin.  

It's kind of a new situation and we have to take it as it develops.  Putin couldn't stay on in his old post, for fear of destroying their constitution and giving the rest of the world the perception that there is a return to singular rule in Russia.  But all reports seem to indicate that Putin is still securely the man in charge.  Besides, he had picked Medvedev to be  his successor, and when Bush wanted to discuss the Georgian escalation, he went to Putin.

So, in short, Putin is the real man in charge.

I'm not too familiar with the other countries except for China, but their system is much different.  Hu Jintao is the President, and Wen Jiaobao the Premier.  Most of the power lies in the hands of Hu, who is the head of government, the party and the military.  But Wen is immensely popular and is a major player in the decision making process.