Russia Contemplates Constitution Changes as Putin Faces Term Limits

Moscow Times ^ | Dec 2018

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Earlier this month, Putin said the constitution is “not some fossilized legal construct but a living, developing organism.”

The speaker of Russia’s parliament raised the possibility of changing the constitution as speculation grows that the Kremlin is considering ways to allow President Vladimir Putin to remain in power beyond the end of his current term, when current law requires him to step down.

“This is about the transfer of power,” said Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst and former Kremlin aide. “Putin encourages this game, dropping ambiguous hints.

The comments from Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma and a top member of the ruling party, at a scripted Kremlin meeting with Putin late Tuesday were vague and didn’t mention succession. But analysts said they showed the authorities already are preparing the ground for changes before the end of Putin’s current term in 2024.

“There are questions in society, esteemed Vladimir Vladimirovich,” Volodin said, addressing Putin in the respectful form, according to a Kremlin transcript. “This is the time when we could answer these questions, without in any way threatening the fundamental provisions” of the constitution, he added. “The law, even one like the Basic Law, isn’t dogma."

The current constitution was drafted 25 years ago, Volodin noted. “That was a very difficult time. A time when the state stood on the edge of collapse, when social obligations weren’t fulfilled, when our citizens lost faith in the authorities.”

The official transcript doesn’t include any mention of Putin’s response to Volodin’s proposal. The Kremlin’s tight control over the political system would make it easy to approve constitutional changes if Putin backed them.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Earlier this month, Putin said the constitution is “not some fossilized legal construct but a living, developing organism.”

Hey, I think Democrats have found their replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsberg!

[freeonefrom]

Let him go to private sector and quit stealing money from the Russia people.

[LeoTDB69]

Putin said the constitution is “not some fossilized legal construct but a living, developing organism.”

Why put it on paper then? Just leave it as a series of oral suggestions.

[tlozo]

(President for life) Putin is at it again. He controls all the press, has his opponents either arrested or killed. He talks about recreating greater Russia, invades neighbors and even threatens to nuke Florida with a new missile and there are still Putin defenders on this forum.