Another 15 years of Putin: the Russian president officially zeroed his terms in power

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law that will allow him to be elected head of state twice more. The document was adopted in accordance with the amendments made to the Constitution, which Putin also proposed, writes Air force.

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According to Law 19-FZ “On the Election of the President of the Russian Federation,” a citizen of Russia who has held this position for two terms or who is holding the position of president for a second term on the day of the official publication of the decision to call elections has no right to be elected president.

But this provision does not apply to Putin - according to the law, the number of presidential terms that a person held at the time the amendments to the Constitution came into force is not taken into account.

Putin was elected president in 2000, 2004, 2012 and 2018. Now he will be able to run in 2024 and 2030. When Dmitry Medvedev was formally the head of state from 2008 to 2012, he proposed increasing the presidential term from four to six years, which was done.

Medvedev himself was not affected by these changes, because in 2012 he ceased to be president.

After Putin's return to the Kremlin, Medvedev took over as head of government, but in early 2020, Putin announced the idea of ​​a constitutional amendment, and Medvedev resigned.

Zeroing amendment

An amendment to zero the presidential terms on March 10, 2020, during a meeting of the State Duma, was unexpectedly proposed by deputy Valentina Tereshkova. The current version of the Constitution did not allow Putin to run for a new term.

Putin immediately went to the Duma and announced that he agreed to zero his deadlines, provided that they were approved by the Constitutional Court and voters in a referendum on amendments to the Constitution. The Constitutional Court did not find any objections, and the referendum also went smoothly (although this was a little later).

On the same day, the State Duma agreed to amend the proposed Tereshkova amendment to the general package of amendments to the Constitution.

The corresponding bill, sponsored by Senator Andrei Klishas and deputies Pavel Krasheninnikov and Olga Savastyanova, was ultimately supported by both the State Duma and the Federation Council.

The speaker of the upper house, Valentina Matvienko, explained it this way: “A huge country with nuclear potential, the most serious international player in the world. (...) And discussions about who will be the successor, what will happen to security, and so on - these are still alarming processes.”

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Putin has repeatedly said in the past that he does not want to change the constitution in order to stay in power.

The law signed by Putin also contains other new requirements for presidential candidates. A citizen of the Russian Federation not younger than 35 years old, permanently residing in the Russian Federation for at least 25 years, who does not have and has not previously had citizenship of a foreign state or a residence permit or other document on the right of permanent residence abroad can be elected as such.

At the same time, the requirement for a candidate for the position of president that he does not have citizenship of a foreign state does not apply to citizens of the Russian Federation who “previously had citizenship of a state that was accepted or part of which was accepted in the Russian Federation.”

This provides a theoretical opportunity to run, for example, natives of Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

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83 years - a lot or a little

Vladimir Putin will turn 2036 in 83, although this is by no means a record for a head of state.

Of the modern leaders, the oldest is the President of Malawi Hastings Banda, who left office at the age of 96 years and 10 days (1994), writes Wikipedia... Their leader Malietoa Tanumafili II Susuga died as head of the state of Samoa at 94, and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad retired at that age. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe left office at 93.

Today's oldest sitting head of state is Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, who is 94 years old.

The former Prime Minister of Cambodia, Chau Sen Koksal Chkhum, lived the longest - to 103 years old, at the same age, Jelal Bayar, the Prime Minister of Turkey, died. French Prime Minister Antoine Pinet did not live to be 103 for a week.

From the living, it is worth paying attention to the former heads of government of Croatia and the Kingdom of Libya, respectively, Josip Manolich and Mustafa Ben Halim, who are more than 100 years old.

Cameroon President Paul Biya is 88 years old, Lebanese President Michel Naim Aoun is 86 years old, the King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Salman ibn Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdul-Aziz ibn Faisal al Saud is 85 years old, Pope Francis is 84 years old, the same is the age of King Harald V of Norway.

US President Joe Biden stated that intends to run in 2024 — by that time he will be almost 82 years old.

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