Presidents May Serve Longer

By Alexander Bratersky

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: July 18, 2012 (Issue # 1718)

MOSCOW — A senior State Duma deputy said the Constitution might be amended to allow the president to serve more than two consecutive terms, renewing speculation that even more power might be vested in the executive branch.

Vladimir Pligin, chairman of the Duma’s Constitution and State Affairs Committee, said during an informal chat with reporters at RIA-Novosti’s offices last Friday that such an amendment was “possible.”

“It depends on how our system is working at the time,” Pligin said in response to a question about the two-term clause from a reporter.

The term limit, introduced in the 1993 Constitution, allowed President Vladimir Putin to assume power in May after serving two terms as president from 2000 to 2008 and stepping aside for his protégé Dmitry Medvedev from 2008 to 2012. 

Under Medvedev, the Constitution was amended to extend the presidential term to six years from the previous four.

Putin has indicated he might consider changing the two-term limit but said he would still be able to run for president until 2024.

Pligin did not say when a constitutional amendment on term limits might be passed.