MOSCOW (AP) – A Russian parliamentary leader on Friday called for the constitution to be amended to allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in office after his second term ends – a proposal that was quickly shot down by the Kremlin but which reflects looming uncertainty over next year’s presidential vote.
Sergei Mironov’s comments also underscore what appears to be mounting pressure from some members of Putin’s inner circle for him to stay on beyond the March 2008 election – seen as a test of Russia’s political system. Any change that permits Putin to stay on would be seen by the West as a further erosion of democracy.
In a speech after his re-election as speaker of the Federation Council – Russia’s upper house of parliament – Mironov said the four-year presidential term should be extended to at least five years and that presidents should be permitted to serve three consecutive terms instead of two.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin remains opposed to any changes in the constitution that would extend his term.
“We proceed from the president’s position that it is pointless to change the constitution to extend the presidential term or the number of terms,” he told The Associated Press. “This stance of the president remains unchanged.”
Several analysts and opposition leaders saw Mironov’s statement as a declaration of loyalty by a longtime ally, rather than a Kremlin gambit to extend Putin’s time in office. At the same time, some observers say the move showed growing pressure on Putin to remain in power from some of his top lieutenants.
Putin, who was first elected in 2000, has repeatedly said he was against revising the constitution. However in the past, he has made vague statements interpreted by some as signaling that he could stay in power under certain circumstances.
Some observers said that Putin has encouraged speculation on the issue to avoid becoming a lame duck.
“In this nation, where there is no real parliament and the Cabinet is weak, a lame duck president would mean anarchy,” said Nikolai Petrov of the Carnegie Endowment’s Moscow office. “Putin is deliberately uncertain about his plans, and Mironov is taking part in this game which Putin needs.”
Boris Makarenko, an analyst with the Center for Political Technologies, an independent think tank, predicted that Putin would step down as promised but would retain strong clout and try to rule from behind the scenes.
“Mironov’s statement was only an expression of loyalty,” he said.
Putin remains widely popular in Russia with approval ratings hovering around 70 percent, thanks to the oil-driven economic boom that has brought wider prosperity and his pledge to revive the global clout that Russia had before the 1991 Soviet collapse.
Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion who is now a determined Putin foe, characterized Mironov’s proposal as “hysterical weeping” by Putin loyalists who could lose their jobs in a change of administration.
“They understand that Putin will not stay on, but they don’t know what to do next,” he told a news conference.
Mironov leads a new Kremlin-blessed political party that made a strong showing in regional elections earlier this month. The party is expected to perform strongly in December’s parliamentary elections.
“Plans still exist to extend Putin’s term, and Mironov’s statement reflects sentiments of those members of the elite who want Putin to stay in power to protect their positions,” said Yevgeny Volk, the head of the Heritage Foundation’s Moscow office.
Others have also urged Putin to run again, but Mironov is one of the most prominent political figures to do so.
“Four years is a short period of time for a large country like Russia. It is necessary to prolong the presidential term in office to five or maybe seven years,” Mironov said in televised remarks. He called for provincial legislatures to debate the issue in the next two months.
Yuri Sharandin, the head of the upper house’s constitutional affairs committee, said on Ekho Moskvy radio that constitutional amendments could be submitted in early autumn if consultations show that the proposal has a sufficient support from federal and regional lawmakers.
Constitutional changes need to be approved by a two-thirds majority in the lower house and a three-fourth majority in the upper chamber and supported by at least two-thirds of provincial legislatures. Both the federal and local parliaments are dominated by Kremlin loyalists.
Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the lower house of parliament and a rival for Putin’s sympathies, quickly dismissed the proposal from Mironov.
“I don’t support proposals to change the constitution,” he said in televised remarks.
Mironov’s proposal could also aggravate Western concern about democracy in Russia. Critics say a series of electoral reforms have stifled dissent and made it nearly impossible for opposition figures to win prominent public office.
The Kremlin has changed the rules “to ensure that it is never again seriously challenged, at either parliamentary or presidential elections,” Stephen White, a professor of international politics at the University of Glasgow, said in an interview.
Putin has also suggested that he would seek to ensure a smooth transition by throwing his weight behind a favored successor. The Kremlin appears to be grooming two potential candidates – first deputy prime ministers Dmitry Medvedev and Sergei Ivanov.
“The issue of the third term just won’t go away – it does seem as though there is an eternal debate in the Kremlin,” said Chris Weafer, chief strategist with Moscow-based Alfa Bank.
