More on the initiative from the Far East

I've decided to invest some time in translating a bit of the coverage of this story which I've found on the internet. The first two stories are almost identical. This whole thing may turn out to be a flash in the pan, but the fact that it may not makes it interesting.

NTV (they were apparently the first of the national media to break the story):

The Deputies of Primor'e want Putin to Remain President, 10.08.2005, 09:20

The Primorsky Krai Deputies want Vladimir Putin to run for a third term. In order to make this possible, they are prepared to amend the country's Constitution. According to them, the Constitution currently contains internal contradictions.

Adam Imadaev, a Deputy of the Primorsky Krai Legislative Assembly, said, "According to the Russian Constitution, Article 32 states that citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to vote for and stand in elections to public office, as long as they are legally competent (i.e., of sound mind) and are not being held in a detention facility on the basis of a court decision. This article applies to the President as well, since our President is a Russian citizen. However, in Article 81, paragraph 3, we see that 'The same person may not occupy the position of President of Russia more than twice.' So it turns out that in one Article there are no limitations, but in a different Article there are."

Today this idea was supported by the members of the local Legislative Assembly's Rule of Law Committee. And at the beginning of September the rest of the [Primor'e] deputies will declare their position on this initiative. If they support the proposal, it will be sent for review to the next level of authority, the State Duma, reports NTV.

Lenta.ru:

The Deputies of Primor'e Are Preparing a Third Term for Putin, 10.08.2005, 11:26:47

The Deputies of the Primorsky Krai Legislative Assembly have proposed amendments to the Russian Constitution which would allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to run for a third term, reports NTV.

According to Deputy Adam Imadaev, the Constitution contains a contradiction. In Article 32 it states that citizens of Russia have the right to vote for and stand in elections to public office, as long as they are legally competent and are not being held in a detention facility on the basis of a court decision. However, Article 81 states that the same individual may not hold the position of President of Russia more than twice. "So it turns out that in one Article there are no limitations, but in a different Article there are," said Imadaev.

The proposal to amend the Constitution was supported by the members of the Rule of Law Committee of the Primor'e Legislative Assembly. At the start of September, the rest of the regional parliament's deputies will declare their position on this initiative. If they support the proposal, it will be sent to the State Duma for review.

Echo of Moscow:

10.08.2005 The idea of letting Vladimir Putin serve a third term as President after 2008 is more and more conquering the minds of Russians - especially those, who have something to do with the government power structure.

Most recently an initiative to make this possible was put forth by the deputies of Primor'e. They are prepared to amend the Constitution in order to allow the current head of state to continue to rule the country for a third term.

Currently, in their opinion, the main law of the country contradicts itself, said one of the authors of this initiative, Primorsky Krai Legislative Assembly Deputy Adam Imadaev in an interview with Echo [of Moscow]. [...] According to him, the question is not how many times V. Putin runs for president. Deciding "how many times he will be elected is the right of every Russian citizen," A. Imadaev is sure. "The Constitution is not the Bible, and if it contains discrepancies with respect to citizens' rights, then amendments must be made," the deputy is certain. At the same time, A. Imadaev noted that "the executive authorities here, including the President's representative, are opposed to amending the Constitution."

Tamara Morshchakova, an advisor to the Constitutional Court, unlike the Primorsky Krai deputies, does not see any particular contradiction in the Constitution regarding the President's terms in office. Morshchakova also pointed out the specific procedure for amending the Constitution: amendments require a majority vote in parliament. Amendments come into force only once they have been approved by the regional authorities in two-thirds of the subjects of the federation.

Distinguished Jurist of Russia Isa Kostoev, a member of the Federation Council's Judicial Affairs Committee, supports [Adam Imadaev's initiative]. "Our Constitution has not been amended once in 12 years, and I think there is nothing frightening about amending it," said I. Kostoev. "I would support such an initiative." "Although currently the Constitution forbids electing the President to a third term, it is possible to amend the Constitution in the name of the larger and best interests of the country," said I. Kostoev. "The Constitution was adopted at a rather complicated time in the development of the Russian state, so I don't see anything too serious here."

The Constitution does not allow the same person to be elected President for a third consecutive term. However there are ways to change the underlying law by introducing amendments. In fact, this has been proposed not only by rank-and-file deputies. For example, in March of this year Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov proposed amending the Constitution to make Russia into a parliamentary republic. Obviously, under such an arrangement, Putin could occupy the post of Prime Minister. But no one took Mironov's initiative too seriously, as opposed to another proposal. In June, United Russia Deputy Alexander Moskalets introduced a draft amendment to the Law on Elections. This amendment allows an official who has resigned his post to stand for election an additional time, if the early elections are acknowledged to be invalid. However, the KPRF faction immediately called this amendment a "loophole in the law," which opens up to the president an opportunity to run for a third consecutive term.

The President himself states, as he has previously, that he has no intention of violating the Constitution by participating in elections for the third time in a row. However, the wording of his statements keeps changing. In December of last year Vladimir Putin stated that he would not run for President in 2008 or at any time thereafter. By April, during a visit to Germany, he was already saying that the Constitution did not preclude him from running for President after 2008. Of course, according to Putin, he wasn't sure that he wanted to do that. And two weeks ago "I'm not sure I want to" became "I'd like to, but I can't."

So the trend is apparent, although up to now the President himself has not said a word about any possible amendments to the Constitution. The Primorsky Krai deputies who introduced the proposal to amend the Constitution intend to send it to the State Duma for review in September.