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State Duma Ready to Extend
Russia’s State Duma stands ready to back up the idea of President Vladimir Putin to extend the presidential tenure from five to seven years. Federation Council Speaker Sergey Mironov also voiced the support yesterday. According to Mironov, the amendments to the constitution should be made after 2008, so that not the successor but Putin would be able to use them should he return to the presidential office.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin made clear his standing about the possible extension of presidential tenure from four to five and even to seven years when meeting the G8 reporters past week. “Four years are a relatively short term,” Putin said. “I think for today’s Russia, five, six or seven years would be quite reasonable, but the number of terms [no more than two terms running] should be still limited.”
It was the first public comment of Putin related to the frequently advocated amendments to the constitution that would extend the office of president. So far, and past week’s statement proved no exception, Putin has always explicitly rejected the third-term idea for himself.
Amending the constitution requires the voice of two-thirds of State Duma, three-fourth of the Federation Council and two-thirds of the Regional Assemblies of Russia’s districts. Yesterday, spokesmen of all Duma’s factions and Federation Council Speaker Sergey Mironov voiced clear support to Putin’s suggestion.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 05, 2007
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