The power of Putin

I see that whilst President Putin will step down as president on May 6 in favour of his puppet (is that too strong a word?) and President-elect Medvedev. He has also accepted another position, Chairman of United Russia, the official party in the Russian Duma. This means that Putin will control the Duma as well as deal with the day to day affairs of government, leaving Medvedev to focus on foreign affairs, if he is allowed to.