Vladimir Putin has decided to run for president in March, a move that will keep him in power until at least 2030.six sources told Reuters.
The reason is that the Kremlin leader thinks that must lead Russia through its most dangerous period in decades.
Putin, who succeeded Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, has already been president longer than any other Russian ruler since Joseph Stalin, surpassing even Leonid Brezhnev’s 18-year term.
Putin turned 71 on October 7.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of Kremlin politics, said news of Putin’s decision had dragged on as advisers prepared for his campaign and the election.
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For the current Russian leader, who according to public opinion polls enjoys an approval rating of 80% in the country, the election is a formality if one runs – with the support of the state, the state media and almost no public dissent, he will surely win.
“The decision has been made – he will run”one of the sources familiar with the matter announced.
Another source confirmed that a decision had been made and Putin’s advisers were preparing for his participation. Three other sources also said the decision had been made: Putin would run.
“The world we are looking at is very dangerous“, one of the sources said.
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A foreign diplomatic source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Putin made the decision recently, as the news of this will be announced soon.
However, subsequently the Kremlin spokesman denied the information to “Reuters”that Putin has decided to run for president.
“Putin has not yet made a statement on the issue. An election campaign has not yet been announced,” he said, quoted by TASS.
Although many foreign diplomats, intelligence officers and officials expect Putin to stay in power for life, so far there has been no concrete confirmation of his plans to run in the March 2024 presidential election.
In September, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that if Putin decides to run, no one will be able to compete with him.
The presidential election of the Russian Federation is to be held on March 17, 2024. A formal decision on this must be made by the Council of Federations in December this year, after which the political parties must hold their pre-election forums and formally nominate candidates.
After the latest amendments to the Basic Law of the Russian Federation, which entered into force in 2021, Putin has the right to run for two more terms. The amendments to the Constitution were proposed by Putin himself, already in power for more than 20 years, as part of constitutional reforms approved by Russians in a 2020 referendum.
Vladimir Putin took the reins of power as president in 2000 and served two consecutive 4-year terms, then they did a casting with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for one termin which Putin was prime minister and Medvedev was president, after which they switched again.
