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© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020.Putin approves changes allowing him to stay in power until 2036
By Andrew Osborn and Tom Balmforth MOSCOW©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
41 Comments
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Eppee
And they can't do that under another leader?
SimondB
For once I can see Trump reading the fine print (on this deal). He has already suggested that the US take a look at China and their president for life type set up.
PTownsend
Not sure what that means. Politically mature = ready for democracy? Russia's a nation that for centuries has been led by a tsar/tsarina and/or Stalin/Putin type leader. Because Russians have had so few opportunities to determine who their leaders should be and what system of governance is best, who knows whether that's what the majority of people want. What those in the 'west' who prefer to maintain the remaining bits of their nation's respective democracies should be concerned about is Russia's ongoing involvements in cyberwarfare tactics intended to sow discord among their populations and weaken their nations. The Russia Federation's expansion of its Eurasian Economic Union using their oil, gas and coal as leverage should be another reason for nations to wean themselves from the fossil economy. 'Little old Russia' has a nuclear arsenal equal to, perhaps greater than America's.
ulysses
That might be the talking point at the Russian troll farm, but democracy left Russia today...
ulysses
Putin , Xi, leaders for life......
Some countries are in regression.....
ulysses
ROFL, does anyone do that anymore????
Apply for Russian citizenship!!!!!!!
M3M3M3
That's a fair point. Any democracy where voters are not allowed to vote for the candidate of their choice (ie. because they've already served a few terms) is, by definition, a limited democracy.
bass4funk
Putin should just amend the constitution to allow him to serve until he’s dead, make it easy, stop pretending, be upfront and honest with the Russian people, end all all elections and declare yourself Czar for life.
ulysses
Err, Donny doesn’t have the votes for a second term.
Next year Donny will be in Russia and declare himself President in Exile!!!
Strangerland
Well, you're right in an idealistic world. But just as Communism looks great on paper, but fails when actually enacted, the longer one is president, the more they can gear the system towards keeping them president. And this is harmful to a democracy. It fails for the same reason that communism does - human fallibility and the corruption of power.
PTownsend
As you know fully well, many ways. Start with what happens when an authoritarian has eliminated checks on his powers. Then look up Yukos Oil. etc etc etc
CrazyJoe
Putin is President for Life. What a shocker.
Hope all the Russian bots are proud.
Banana Republic.
Headline needs: 'Putin's Regime Votes For Putin To Stay In Power Forever'.
M3M3M3
@Strangerland
Term limits are also the best way to ensure that lobbyists and monied interests can subvert democracy by getting a fresh bite at the apple of power every few years. It allows them to set aside all popular presidents who might have enough personal wealth and institutional support to be virtually uncorruptable and replace him/her with a well funded puppet. The Heritage Foundation is in favour of congressional term limits in the US. Why do you think the idea appeals to them?
SuperLib
Putin will decide. The Russian people are irrelevant.
Strangerland
Heh, yeah, because Russian elections aren't rigged right.
YeahRight
I'm shocked! Shocked, I say! Shocked that a dictator would make it "legal" for him to become dictator for life!
PTownsend
Serving the interests of the ruling elite is typical of states with huge reserves of oil and gas. Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait, Brunei, Venezuela, like Russia, are states where the rulers and their chosen 'elite' live lives of extreme luxury from the trade of oil and gas. They maintain strict control over the people they govern to ensure no disruptions in the supplies of oil and gas. Exactly what the globe's oil and gas corporations, and their financiers, want.
bass4funk
Oh, yes, he most definitely does.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/284156/trump-job-approval-personal-best.aspx
Perfect For going into a second term.
By clipping a lot of rivals and making sure his rival and supporter Oligarchs are happy and as long as that holds up, he’ll have an excellent life with zero challengers.
jeancolmar
"Not sure what that means. Politically mature = ready for democracy?"
Russia actually had a democracy for a while until it withered away. Putin is putting the finishing touches on becoming a legal dictator. It's that simple.
Wakarimasen
Russia reverting to type as an autocracy. Has only been a democracy for about a decade or so of its existence as a nation state.
funkseoul
The delusion in this remark is very strong indeed. What are you smoking?
Oh, smoke from your username
plasticmonkey
One of those people is Donald J. Trump.
nandakandamanda
Maybe I'll vote myself a bonus every year until 2035, just for the sake of stability of course.
bass4funk
Hmmmm.....not according to the FBI, but nice try. Lol
Toasted Heretic
Oh, the irony.
Putin is a dictator. This news is no surprise. Neither is the support for him from those pesky foreign internet posters.
Jtsnose
Another country with a Dictatorship . . . .
bass4funk
A lot out there.
SuperLib
The Russian people should be fine as long as they like and support Putin. The problems happen when they decide they want someone new. That's when Putin steps in and says "No."
They'll understand more if they ever reach that point. We'll see.
lostrune2
Even then-Pres. George Washington was offered "President for Life" by people's popularity of him
But at least he had to good sense to turn it down, so he set a good example for the then-experimental nascent democracy in the 18th-Century world dominated by monarchies
A good sign of a mature democracy is the peaceful handover of power