Vladimir Churov, head of Central Election Commission
Photo: Andrei Manokhin
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Fed Council Speaker Urges Putin to Step Down Early
Russia’s upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, set March 2, 2008 as the date of presidential elections. Officially, the campaigns will be launched once Rossiyskaya Gazeta or Parlamentskaya Gazeta editions promulgate the ruling, which could happen already November 28, 2007. Meanwhile, senators in the Federation Council proceed with the efforts to legalize the third term for President Putin.
The agenda of the yesterday’s sitting of the Federation Council set forth a single issue – fixing the date of presidential elections. Under the Constitution, it should be the second Sunday of March. Next year, it is March 9, which follows March 8 that is the holiday and day-off in Russia. So, the proposal was to elect a president on previous Sunday, as it is specified in Item 7, Clause 5 of the laws, and all 133 senators present at the meeting voted for this transfer.
Another issue raised yesterday was whether Putin would be able to run for presidency should he step down ahead of time. Vladimir Churov, who heads Central Election Commission, bluntly refuted the possibility. But Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov was persistent.
Pursuant to Item 3, Clause 6 of the Act on Presidential Elections, a citizen, who was substituting for president and whose authority was early terminated due to the resignation, may not be nominated a candidate at elections called because of the early termination of his/her authority.
“There is collusion,” said Mironov, who long vowed to find a way to re-elect Putin for the third term without breaching the Constitution. “This restriction applies if the presidential elections are called early. But the elections will go as planned,” the speaker explained, prompting Churov to ponder over the issue.
One of the masterminds of Russia’s Constitution, Viktor Sheinis, sees no collusion. “The Federation Council speaker may interpret the law as he wants. But the Constitution doesn’t spell out this opportunity,” Sheinis pointed out, calling Mironov’s method “very artificial” as the “break between the second and a new term is negligible.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Nov. 27, 2007
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