Translated material
Caucasian longevity
North Ossetia and Chechnya want to extend Vladimir Putin's presidential age
The North Ossetian public movement “Concord and Stability” yesterday officially announced its readiness to begin the procedure for preparing a national referendum that would allow changing Chapter 4 of the Russian Constitution so that the same president could hold office for more than two consecutive terms. In other words, we are talking about legalizing Vladimir Putin’s third term in office.One of the leaders of Harmony and Stability, former deputy of the republican parliament of North Ossetia Valery Gizoev said that today, July 21, a meeting of the executive committee of the movement will be held, at which the timing of the preparation of the referendum will be determined. Mr. Gizoev named December 15, 2006 as the deadline for holding the plebiscite. According to Mr. Gizoev, the idea of a third term for President Putin is already supported by 56 out of 89 Russian regions, in each of which there are “Consent” initiative groups.
Let us recall that the proposal for a third Putin term was put forward by the Harmony and Stability movement in the spring of this year. The head of North Ossetia, Taisuraz Mamsurov, was then somewhat surprised by the initiative of the movement, but just in case, he approved and supported the idea. At the same time, Mr. Mamsurov and the leaders of the movement unanimously insisted that the draft referendum on a third presidential term was invented completely independently of both the government and its party. Although it is known that Harmony and Stability is headed by ex-Prime Minister of North Ossetia Alan Boradzov and the movement has signed a cooperation agreement with the republican United Russia.
Russian sociologists, in particular the Levada Center, indeed note the growing popularity of the idea of extending Vladimir Putin's powers as 2008 approaches: if last summer only 41% of citizens were in favor, now their number has grown to 59%. As for the regions, despite the figures given by Mr. Gizoev, officially - that is, at the level of governors and regional parliaments - so far only Moscow, St. Petersburg, Primorsky Krai, Novgorod and Ivanovo regions have offered a third term. In the Caucasus, in addition to North Ossetia, Chechnya spoke in favor of extending the powers of the head of state.
In January 2004, Akhmat Kadyrov, who had himself been elected president of the republic three months earlier, proposed not to change the number of presidential terms, but simply to make Vladimir Putin’s presidency for life. “Putin is the best president for Russia,” Mr. Kadyrov said then. As you know, Kadyrov's presidency turned out to be for life - he died as a result of the terrorist attack on May 9, 2004.
Last Wednesday, his successor Alu Alkhanov made a proposal to exclude from the Russian Constitution the clause limiting the number of presidential terms. The Chechen president went further than his North Ossetian like-minded people: he sent a letter to the regional parliament asking it to enter the State Duma of the Federal Assembly with the corresponding legislative initiative.
Commenting on his proposal, Alu Alkhanov, in essence, expressed the motivation of the majority of Russians who are thinking about Putin’s third term: “The President of the Russian Federation has begun work to stabilize the situation in the Chechen Republic, and the population of Chechnya considers it necessary that the processes of stabilization of the situation, restoration of the economy and social sphere should be completed under the leadership of the current President of Russia. Taking into account the limited period of time remaining for the President of the Russian Federation to exercise his powers, I believe it is necessary to support the appeals of citizens, representatives of public organizations and appeals from other constituent entities of the Russian Federation to amend Article 81 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation regarding the term of office of the President.”
The majority of the Russian population, of course, is not so interested in the stabilization and restoration of the economy of Chechnya, but the relative general stability and some increase in prosperity in the country as a whole is associated by many with the figure of the head of state, and not with the prohibitively high world energy prices. As 2008 approaches, the anxiety associated with the change of this figure and the likelihood of another change in the “rules of the game” is growing.
The Chechen president himself, elected according to the Chechen Constitution of 2003 for the first (of two possible) four-year term, has about two years left until the end of his term, like Putin. However, many in Chechnya believe that Mr. Alkhanov's presidency could end prematurely. This October, the influential and very ambitious Prime Minister of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, will celebrate his 30th birthday and will receive a formal opportunity to lead the republic. To change the president of Chechnya, elections will no longer be required: the parliament is ready to bring the republican basic law into conformity with federal legislation, so that the president is approved by the parliament on the proposal of the head of state.
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Third term lobby
On October 19, 2004 , Secretary of State of the Union State of Russia and Belarus Pavel Borodin supported the idea of a national referendum on extending Vladimir Putin’s powers for a third term.
On March 21, 2005, Speaker of the Federation Council Sergei Mironov said that since the Constitution does not allow holding the presidential post for two consecutive terms, Vladimir Putin could again become head of state in 2012, and between 2008 and 2012 he could hold another important post.
On August 10, 2005 , deputies of the Primorsky Territory Legislative Assembly proposed amending the Constitution to allow Vladimir Putin to run for a third term.
On August 12, 2005, the idea of a third term was supported by the head of the Novosibirsk region , Viktor Tolokonsky : “If this issue had been discussed in a referendum, I would probably have voted for three terms.” Deputy of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly Igor Rimmer announced that he had developed an amendment to the Constitution allowing one person to serve three terms as president.
On August 18, 2005, Novgorod Governor Mikhail Prusak stated that it was not worth rewriting the Constitution for the sake of a third term, but an amendment could be made to increase the presidential term to seven years.
On August 21, 2005, the head of Mari El, Leonid Markelov, spoke in favor of a third term for the president: “I see absolutely no attack on democratic norms if State Duma deputies initiate the introduction of appropriate amendments to the Constitution of the country.”
On July 1, 2006, Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko , expressing “her personal point of view,” said that Putin’s third presidential term would be a guarantee of stability in the country.