Putin Has No Plans to Stay for Third Term
Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a statement saying that he has no plans to try to stay in office after his second term is up in 2008. This comes after upper house speaker Boris Gryzlov proposed a constitutional amendment allowing for Putin to stay.
The speaker of the Federation Council, Sergei Mironov, has said that he thinks that the terms of office for the president should be changed so that presidents may serve more than two consecutive terms.
The March 2008 elections are going to be a true test of the levels of democracy in the Russian political system. If the laws are changed to allow Putin to continue to run the country it will be construed by the west as a lack of democracy.
A spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov issued a statement dismissing the proposal by Mironov and insisting that President Putin has no intention of extending his term. Most political analysts see Mironov’s comments as a declaration of loyalty to Putin and not a serious attempt to convince him to stay in office. Many opposition figures feel the same and doubt that Putin will try to stay in office past March 2008.spokesperson for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov issued a statement dissmisisng the proposal by Mironov and further If the laws ar
