Rossiyskaya Gazeta: "The magic word"
The president's time in office may be limited to two terms.
One single word can alter the country's future political landscape. Speaking in the State Duma on Wednesday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin mentioned the possibility of amending the constitution. Should these amendments be approved, an individual will not be able to remain as President for more than two terms.
Paragraph 3 of Article 81 specifies that "one and the same person cannot hold the office of President of the Russian Federation for more than two consecutive terms." Based on the example of a range of developed democracies, many people in Russia wondered why the presidential term is not limited to two terms in total, without any provisos. This idea was especially popular during the presidential election campaign.
Communist Party deputy and film director Vladimir Bortko asked Putin the same question:
"As a way of promoting democracy, we would like to submit a draft law to delete the word ‘consecutive’ from the clause on the two presidential terms. What do you think of that?"
"I think it makes sense to amend the constitution, to delete “two consecutive terms” and change it simply to “two terms”," Putin said. "We will think this over."
Communist Party deputies, however, have already thought things through and there was a reason behind Bortko's question. He has already prepared the draft law and will submit it to the State Duma for approval. The procedure for making the relevant amendments to the constitution could take two months, according to the authorised representative of the Government of the Russian Federation in the Constitutional Court Alexei Alexandrov.
"This issue has been discussed for a long time and the procedure for introducing amendments to the constitution will be similar to the one for introducing amendments to the presidential term and State Duma terms."
Putin, however, made one brief, but very telling remark, while addressing deputies.
"The law will not apply retrospectively," said Putin. "From the date it is passed I will have the opportunity to serve for another two terms. There is no problem here."
Alexandrov agrees that there is no need to rush through the passing of the amendments. He gives the same reason - the law will not have retrospective effect and will not change the political situation in the country.
However, there does not appear to be any consensus among lawyers over this issue. If Putin runs for President in 2018 there are various possibilities. Everything will depend on the way the legislation defines the method for calculating presidential terms, both previous and upcoming. In theory, it is possible that Putin's term from 2012 to 2018 will not be counted and he will be able to run for another two terms.
Experts say, however, that in 2018 Putin may run for President for the last time.
"Putin's term from 2012 will be counted together with his second term, which will come after the Constitution is amended," the authorised representative of the Government of the Russian Federation in the Constitutional Court Mikhail Barshchevsky told Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
"As these amendments will not be applied retrospectively, Putin's third term is legitimate, there is no question of that," says the head of the law department at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology Boris Nadezhdin. He says there are various possibilities for the future, but "if the amendments come into force before 2018, two more terms will not be possible." Nadezhdin believes that it all depends on the lawmakers. "To make things clear, everything should be spelled out in the legislation," says Nadezhdin.
Unlike their colleagues from the Communist Party, United Russia has no desire to rush things, after what Putin said. First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Constitutional Law and State Development Vyacheslav Lysakov believes it is necessary to put the issue up for widespread discussion, as "it affects the constitutional framework."
Experts agree that legally excluding the possibility of a third presidential term will make the authorities more effective and Russian citizens will only benefit from it.
"It is more a question of developing democracy and updating our democratic institutions," political analyst Dmitry Orlov told RIA Novosti. "The Russian presidency as a result will become more effective as a governmental institution."
Vladimir Kuzmin
