Putin not belittle his once hand-picked protégé

A South Alabama University professor says Putin won’t to belittle his once hand-picked protégé, or marginalize his own prime minister. “Putin simply wants to strengthen his own image as the best leader for Russia,” Nader Entessar tells Khabar Online.
Following is the text of the interview:
Recently we saw the rift between Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin. Cracks are growing between President Vladimir Putin and his protégé Dmitry Medvedev after the former contradicted his prime minister and took credit for Russia’s victorious war against Georgia four years ago. Is this rift real? If so, what are the roots of this rift?
A rift between Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev appears to have emerged since late this summer over the release of a new film entitled "The Lost Day." The film was released to coincide with the fourth anniversary of Russia's brief war with and intervention in Georgia's conflict in 2008. The film portrays Medvedev, who was then Russia's president, as an indecisive and weak leader and charges Medvedev as being afraid to order the Russian forces to route the Georgian troops. It features a number of military figures, including General Yuri Baluyevsky, the former Chief of General Staff, who accuses Medvedev's alleged indecisiveness for the loss of lives and Russian casualties.
What are the details of that film?
The film has created a good deal of discussion and debate among Russian elites and also among Russian people. The message of the film is very clear: Medvedev is a weak leader while Putin is a reliable and effective leader who can once again catapult Russia to greatness. 
What are the aims of the film?
The film is probably aimed to further weaken the office of prime minister and damage Medvedev's chances of challenging Putin's authority. But, I don't think Putin wants to belittle his once hand-picked protégé, or marginalize his own prime minister. Putin simply wants to strengthen his own image as the best leader for Russia. It is in this context that we need to analyze what some in the West are referring to as Putin-Medvedev rift.
Nader Entessar is professor of the University of South Alabama. He is the author of Kurdish Ethno nationalism (1992) and the co-editor of Reconstruction and Regional Diplomacy in the Persian Gulf (Routledge, 1992) and Iran and the Arab world.