Russia’s Vladimir Putin just got one step closer to being "president" for life

[Onkel Neal]

When are people going quit going along with calling dictators "president"?

https://www.vox.com/2020/3/10/211734...ts-coronavirus

“for [the] long term, society must have guarantees for the regular change of power,” adding, “This is why I do not believe it is viable to delete the restriction on the number of presidential terms from the Constitution.”

In other words, this might not always be a good idea, but it’s a good idea for Russia right now. “I have no doubt that the day will come when the supreme, presidential power in Russia will not be so personified, if I may say so, that it will not be connected to a certain individual,” Putin said.

Except for him. Sad.

[Aktungbby]

look on the bright side... he's old(one year younger than I) and now they won't find anyone who's actually more dangerously competent! My puzzlement is why would any one want the job longer than the 20 years he's already served?

[Skybird]

Can you imagine him to survive for long after he has given up the powers he has as president? He must have made himself a hilarious ammount of enemies amongst economic tycoons, oligarchs, mafiosi, and fat cats embedded in the government-bureaucracy's internal "nest structure". He can live probably only as long as he stays strong and in control. No way out, no way back.

Also, he is kind of possessed, he is a driven one. I think many people in the West misunderstand how much he really believes in what he is doing and in the Russia he has formed and created. He is an offender by conviction. His passion is ice-coldly executed and carried out - but a passion it is.

Or in brief: he has no other choice than to continue.

And why not? Even if his scores with the Russian people currently are fluctuating, most Russians still support him and will not resist to these changes now. He changes the rules, he is authoritarian, and Russians by huge majority will tolerate both. So why should he stop?

You could as well ask why Trump should candidate for a second term. Why should he not...? Dispite all what speaks against him, many Americans still loyally stand behind him and forgive him his lies, his failures, his duds, his incompetence and verbal excesses and impossible behaviour. They are willing to let him get away.


It could be that Putin overstays his time and misses the right time when his populaerity falls below what can ,maintain his stay in power. Many powerpoliticians miss the right time to step back. But this time is not yet here for Putin, I think.

[Catfish]

Nullyfying the last election periods to start counting anew , nothing else than a coup d'état. But we already had a thread about that.

[ikalugin]

Some clarifications (from my understanding and I can be wrong):

- there are two separate initiatives, to allow unlimited number of term limits and to reset the number of terms served, with the later being justified by the change in the nature of the presidency.
- the first initiative got shut down completely in the speech by Putin while the second was sent to the judicial review and now awaits it.
- even if the amendments do pass judicial review, referendum and so on they would not make Putin president for life - he would still need to win in two 6 year election cycles and then he would no longer be elegible (this is where 2036 date comes from - 2024+6+6).


p.s. read the article


As to the surprise - we are living in lean-agile political climate, so rapid change is the norm. However it is too early to say where this initiative would end, it would appear that CC may be used as a tool to legitimise post transition system by not passing those amendments in the judicial review.

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

I'm curious as to how that would even be phrased in a Constitution, since those are the most abstract of legal instruments and now we have to enter a one-time exception (a very concrete measure) into it.

But to be fair to Putin, back when his words can be taken as a push for less centralization, people were horribly hostile and assuming the worst anyway. In a sense, what's the point of being nice, then...

[Catfish]

When Putin dies before the last cycle he was [whatever] for life

[ikalugin]

Originally Posted by Catfish

When Putin dies before the last cycle he was [whatever] for life

Well that could happen before 2024 when his current term expires.

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

"I propose to either lift the presidential term limit or add a clause that after the revised constitution enters force, the incumbent president, just like any other citizen, has the right to seek the presidency," she told lawmakers, who responded with resounding applause.

https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/l...04c7e%252e2llw

Comrade Tereshkova clearly is not skilled in legal-writing. With such a formulation, the reading will be in conjunction with the term limit, so basically the incumbent president will only be able to seek the presidency if he hasn't exhausted his limit.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Kazuaki Shimazaki II

[...] With such a formulation, the reading will be in conjunction with the term limit, so basically the incumbent president will only be able [seek the presidency if he hasn't exhausted his limit.

Lol, ok. However, the limit as you call it has just been reset to zero (by friendly suggestion from Putin), so he has not exhausted it, nor will he ever in his lifetime

[Jimbuna]

I've said it many times on this forum over the years: Putin = Democratically elected dictator.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

I've said it many times on this forum over the years: Putin = Democratically elected dictator.

If any political competitor happens to fall down some stairs or somehow manages to find himself in prison.. I would not quite call the survivor "democratically elected" Not that some oligarch would have been "better".

OT: I do not want to compare Putin to Hitler, but the mechanisms of getting to power are the same. Since millenia, i might say.

They also called the election of Hitler "democratic", so he called himself the "elected Reichskanzler". Of course he was not. Other parties had higher voting numbers and those of the NSDAP were falling. But if any Reichstagsabgeordneter had to fear for his life and family by ways of the SA and secret police waiting behind the parliament's doors, he preferred to at least abstain from his vote.
There were only a few social democratic party delegates who stood up and voted against Hitler, and they paid the price.

[ikalugin]

Originally Posted by Catfish

Lol, ok. However, the limit as you call it has just been reset to zero (by friendly suggestion from Putin), so he has not exhausted it, nor will he ever in his lifetime

That is not factually correct.


The number of terms would be reset to 0 should the Duma legislate this (there is one more vote to go) and if it passes judicial review by Constitutional court, (I assume that it would be signed by Putin b/c he OK'ed it). So you should't get ahead of yourself.

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by ikalugin

That is not factually correct. [...] So you should't get ahead of yourself.

One more vote to go, after it passed two.
As astonishing as it may look, my chrystal ball tells me that the third "vote" somehow and magically gets through.

I assume that it would be signed by Putin b/c he OK'ed it

[ikalugin]

Originally Posted by Catfish

One more vote to go, after it passed two.
As astonishing as it may look, my chrystal ball tells me that the third "vote" somehow and magically gets through.

And a judicial review. Which you forgot. So yes, you shouldn't get ahead of yourself, this is the job of the pundits.


p.s. this judicial review is a non standard feature. If rubber stamping was desirable then it is counter intuitive to add additional parties to the lot.