Putin's Plan
Filed under: Russia
For a while now, people have been noticing billboards like the one above that have been appearing in Russia which mysteriously declare: "Putin's Plan -- Russia's Victory!"
Now, it appears we may know the details of that "plan."
The Moscow Times reports that the Russian newspaper "Nezavisimaya Gazeta, citing a source close to the presidential administration, reported Thursday that Putin was planning to resign after the Duma [parliamentary] elections [in December] and become a deputy [member of parliament], giving him the legal right to run in the March presidential election."
In other words, the Russian Constitution doesn't allow Putin to take a third consecutive term as president, but it doesn't stop him from resigning, even one day before the next presidential election, and then running against his hand-picked "successor" (the non-entity Viktor Zubkov who Putin recently named Prime Minister) who would, by taking the oath of office and governing even for one minute, have sufficiently interrupted Putin's rule to allow its continuation.
Quite a "plan," huh? And Part II is to amend the Constitution extending the presidential term so that Putin can rule for 14 years without having to do it all over again. Then again, maybe just amend it to declare Putin "President" for life.
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