Vladimir Putin approves changes allowing him to stay in power until 2036
- Stability a priority when country is experiencing ‘shocks and difficulties’, president says, adding that Russia is still recovering from Soviet Union’s collapse
- Putin is required by constitution to step down in 2024, but proposed overhaul could see him in office until age of 83
Russian President Vladimir Putin has opened the door to constitutional changes that would allow him to remain in power until 2036, but said he favoured term limits once the country became politically “mature”.
Putin, who in January unveiled a major shake-up of Russian politics and a constitutional overhaul, is required by the Russian constitution to step down in 2024 when his second sequential and fourth presidential term ends.
But addressing the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, he gave his qualified blessing to a proposed change to the constitution that would formally reset his presidential term tally to zero.
“The proposal to remove restrictions for any person, including the incumbent president … In principle, this option would be possible, but on one condition – if the constitutional court gives an official ruling that such an amendment would not contradict the principles and main provisions of the constitution,” Putin said.
He said US President Franklin D. Roosevelt serving four terms because of the upheaval his country was going through at the time – the Great Depression and World War II – was an example of why presidential term limits were sometimes superfluous.