So, the Russian constitution has a 2-term presidential limit. Vlad initially won the Presidency in 2000 and served two terms. To skirt the issue, he made himself PM for one term and appointed a toady (Medvedev) as President - before having another go and serving a further two terms. The latter of these ends in 2024 so he's faced with the problem again. What to do? Apparently, what to do is to amend the constitution via a referendum to severely limit the power of the Presidency and to transfer power to the legislative branch, before presumably becoming PM again. Or he could stay on in another capacity. Good idea, eh? Link.
Gosh, who could have foreseen that an authoritarian leader with autocratic ambitions would attempt to manipulate the system to remain in power indefinitely.
Good thing Mr. "I'll be more flexible after the election" is no longer president to introduce an actual risk of corruption, enabling and accommodation in the face of autocrat Putin's predictable power grab.
I am pretty sure @Tuttle has to pledge his allegiance to Puttin through the Trump lead human centipede.
It passed. Putin will be able to stay in power through 2036. https://www.scmp.com/news/world/rus...ns-grant-vladimir-putin-right-extend-his-rule
It was my understanding that Putin would probably like to step down, but he is not the master of his own destiny. Russia isn't the Soviet Union and Putin isn't Stalin; he's aligned with powerful oligarchs who use their wealth to control the country. He is no puppet, but he is clearly the head of a dangerous coalition. I believe he's still in power because his oligarchic allies greatly prefer his leadership and stewardship of their wealth over anyone else's. I just picked up Catherine Belton's "Putin's People", I'll let you know more once I've finished it.
You know, for all the shit we have going on in our democracy, at least we still have the moral high ground over Russia. https://www.newsweek.com/ballot-fraud-gave-russias-putin-22-million-extra-votes-says-expert-1515314
