Russian President Vladimir Putin has not ruled out that he will run for president for a new term if the relevant amendment to the constitution is adopted. The head of state said this in an interview for the film "Russia. The Kremlin. Putin" on the "Russia-1" TV channel.
"I have not decided anything for myself yet. I do not rule out the possibility of running for office, if it arises in the constitution. We'll see, we'll see there," he said.
At the same time, the head of state urged all officials not to seek a successor to him right now, but to do their direct work. "One should work, not look for successors," said the head of state.
"You know, I'm going to say it absolutely frankly: if it's not [the adoption of the relevant amendment to the Constitution] in two years, I know it from my own experience, instead of normal rhythmic work at many levels of government, searching for possible successors starts," the president explained.
The need for amendments
The Head of State is absolutely convinced in the correctness of the proposal on amendments to the Constitution of Russia.
"I am absolutely convinced that we are doing the right thing, that we are adopting the amendments to the current Constitution," he said, noting that the events of recent months have also proved it right.
"The Constitution in force today was adopted in a special period - in conditions of an acute domestic political crisis, when tanks were firing at the Parliament and there were clashes with victims in Moscow," reminded the President.
"Today, thank God, is a stable domestic political situation, but there are other things related to our sovereignty," said the President. Putin reminded, in particular, that the USSR republics had the right to withdraw from the country, but the procedure was not regulated.
"The question arises: [what to do], if a particular republic was part of the Soviet Union, but received a huge number of Russian lands, traditional Russian historical territories in its "baggage", and then suddenly decided to leave the Union," said the Russian leader. - Well, at least then it would have left with what it came with, and would not have brought "gifts" from the Russian people. After all, none of this was spelled out.
A vote on the amendments will be held on July 1. Earlier it was scheduled for April 22, but due to the spread of COVID-19 and unfavorable sanitary and epidemiological situation, it was postponed.
Amendments to the Constitution focus on new requirements for the president, members of the government and government officials at various levels. They also fix social guarantees of the state before the citizens, change the scope of powers of the parliament, prohibit the alienation of federal territories, establish the status of the Russian language, and mention God in the chapter devoted to the continuity of the development of the Russian statehood. In addition, the amendments allow the incumbent president to run for office again in 2024.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from RIA Novosti, TASS