Presidential elections in Russia: Putin postpones possible nomination until “end of year”

The false wait will continue for several more weeks. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday he is postponing a possible candidacy for the presidential election scheduled for 2024 until “the end of the year.” If he is re-elected, the head of state will remain in office. power until 2030.

“By law, parliament must make a decision at the end of the year. Then the decision will be made, the elections will be announced, the date will be set, and we will discuss,” Vladimir Putin said at an economic forum in Vladivostok, in the Far East. In power in Russia since 2000, Vladimir Putin amended the Constitution in 2020, which now theoretically allows him to remain in power until 2036. This would allow him to surpass Joseph Stalin in terms of longevity in the Kremlin.

According to observers, while his army continues the military operation in Ukraine that he himself ordered in February 2022, the announcement of his candidacy for a new mandate leaves very little doubt at this stage.

On Monday, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov assured that “the main thing for (Vladimir Putin) is to know whether he can do anything more to improve people’s lives. He proved that his ideas find support in society, among political forces, and in the regions. »

In recent years, the Russian opposition and civil society have been muzzled: key political opponents are either in prison, like Alexei Navalny, the Kremlin’s number one enemy, or in exile. And several hundred thousand Russians, especially young men, left the country for a year and a half, fearing being sent to the front.