Near the zero

Why does Vladislav Surkov pushing the president to start a new countdown

Former Presidential Assistant Vladimir Putin Vladislav Surkov (considered by the author of the novel “Podonol”) said that after amendments to the Constitution, “the countdown of the presidential terms could be“ re -started, ”since“ the powers of the president will be clarified ”. Allegedly, “it will already be a different institution of presidency,” and “the restrictions on the current presidency will not be able to apply to it.”

Dmitry Peskov immediately disowned this statement, calling Surkov "an individual who does not work in the presidential administration or in some other institution." He refuted the possible “zeroing” and the co -chair of the working group on amendments to the Constitution Andrei Klishas.

This, I note, was only strengthened by the suspicions that Surkov only expressed aloud what the Kremlin actually was in mind

Or did someone think that there they would recognize in everything and arrange a confession?

I often quote my own articles in the “new”, but here it will have to.

On January 20 (as soon as the “Putin” amendments to the Constitution were introduced to the State Duma, where the word “contract” was excluded from the presidential “rules of two terms”) I wrote that they can now tell us that the amendments have no return strength, and the presidential terms are reset: the countdown went again. The logic of my reasoning was still quite simple.

Absolutely all the political reforms that Putin carried out in 20 years were aimed at strengthening his personal power: the creation of “federal districts”, the abolition of the governor’s elections, granting the president of the right to offer candidates for the chairmen of senior courts and deputies of the Prosecutor General and remove even elected governors in “loss of trust”.

As for the political configuration, which Putin proposed in amendments to the Constitution, the president remains a key figure in it. Moreover, his powers are even somewhat intensified.

And the question inevitably arises: does Putin really build up all this design, starts large -scale changes in the Constitution, dismisses the government, forms a new one, changes the general prosecutor, is going to reformat the Constitutional Court (reducing its composition) solely for the sake of four years that he remains to occupy the presidency - until 2024?

Of course, there may be other hypotheses of what is happening, and they are also expressed by the people completely respected. Either the retired Kremlin Demiurge Surkov wants to show his extreme devotion and need in this way. Either Putin and his environment are simply in a hurry to “cement” the political system, while there are opportunities for this - in the form of the constitutional majority in the Duma and the Federation Council, control over regional parliaments and persisting at a decent level of support for the population. It is necessary to enter into the Constitution the opportunity to ignore international law, actually cancel the autonomy of local self -government, give the president the right to appoint regional prosecutors and “slow down” the laws that he would be obliged to sign ...

Nevertheless, I will repeat: Never Putin “pierced” something except the beneficial to him personally.

And he is unlikely to expect to use the new design of the authorities for only four years, after which he will quietly move away from business. Moreover, in this design there is no other, except for the presidential one, a position that allows you to control the situation, which Putin traditionally considers to be a key necessity for himself.

So, the most likely hypothesis: he wants to remain president. How? The only option is the “zeroing” of the deadlines. With the involvement of the Constitutional Court for the legal justification of this process - the one that is planned to be reduced from 19 to 11 judges appointed on the proposal of the president. That is Putin. And there is no doubt: only those who are guaranteed to issue a verdict on the constitutionality of the “resetting of the deadlines” will be selected in the “abbreviated” composition.

The precedent, we recall, was already. In October 1999, the “rule of two terms” was introduced for the governors: they could not occupy their posts more than two times. And in February 2001, the State Duma adopted the amendment of the deputy George Boos, according to which the term of the current governors elected before October 16, 1999 was considered zero. After that, about 60 governors who had ruled before, began their countdown from the “zero” and safely went to the third term. In July 2002, the Constitutional Court examined the amendment of Boos-and recognized it quite constitutional. And in December 2003, the Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov (whose faithful supporter was Boos), twice before the elected post, went for the third term ....

There is no reason to believe that in 2024 (and maybe before) the same political combination will not be fulfilled.

After that, Vladimir Vladimirovich will divorce with his hands, he will say “well, if you can - it means you can” and bear the documents to the CEC.

And the skeptics will answer that he never calls judges.

Of course, it does not call.

Being selected or appointed by the President, they understand everything without calls.