Officials voice opposition to amendment initiative - RIA Novosti

Here's an English translation of RIA Novosti's article on the initiative to which I've devoted so much space today:

Mironov Is Opposed to the Primorsky Krai Deputy's Initiative to Amend the Constitution 16:38 10/ 08/ 2005

Moscow, 10 August - RIA "Novosti." The Russian Central Election Commission [CEC] considers "strange" the initiative of a Primorsky Krai deputy to amend the Russian Constitution in order to do away with the prohibition on occupying the position of President of Russia for more than two terms in a row; and Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov voiced his categorical opposition to changing the main law of the country.

"There is such an initiative. From my point of view, it looks rather strange," CEC deputy chairman Oleg Vil'iashev told journalists on Wednesday.

On Monday Primorsky Krai Deputy Adam Imadaev announced that a committee of the Primor'e Legislative Assembly had found contradictions between Article 32 of the Constitution, which refers to the right of every citizen to vote in elections and stand for election, and Article 81, according to which the same person may not hold the position of President more than twice in a row.

"I don't see any contradiction between these two norms established by the Constitution," said Vil'iashev. "It's difficult for me to say that Article 81 limits citizens' rights," he added.

"I think that when the session [of the Primor'e Legislative Assembly] gathers, it will make the right decision and will explain the situation to those instigators who have put forth this initiative," Vil'iashev said, hopefully.

Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov is certain that the limit of two presidential terms should remain in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

In an interview with RIA "Novosti," Mironov called the Primorsky Krai Deputy's initiative "legally illiterate." "It's a pity that there are legally illiterate deputies in regional legislative assemblies. They've created a problem out of thin air and with no basis," he said.

Mironov emphasized that the limit on presidential terms is intended to foster the development of democracy in Russia. "Paragraph 3 of Article 81 of the Constitution sets a specific limit, which is intended to foster the development of democracy and civil society, and it creates a barrier against totalitarianism," said the Speaker of the upper house of parliament.

Incidentally, he noted, a presidential term limit is a generally accepted practice internationally.

"Once can only regret that such legally illiterate statements are widely broadcast in the media," said Mironov.

However, the chairman of the Federation Council's Committee on Judicial Affiars Stanislav Vavilov believes that the Constitution may in fact contain a contradiction by preventing the same person from serving as president for a third consecutive term.

"In principle, at first glance there is such a contradiction," said Vavilov on Wednesday in a phone interview with RIA "Novosti."

"A review of the Primorsky Krai deputies' initiative will show whether there is a contradiction in the Constitution," noted the senator.

At the same time Vavilov noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin himself had said more than once that the Consititution is sacred, and that "we are obligated to observe it."

Vavilov noted that the review of such questions is a not a quick but rather a lengthy process. "In any case, this initiative has the right to be reviewed by the State Duma," said the committee chairman.

Yurii Sharandin, Chairman of the Federation Council's Committee on Constitutional Law, categorically disagrees. He told RIA "Novosti" that he is disposed "strongly negatively" to the Primorsky Krai deputies' initiative. "Deputies should be guided at least a little bit by the law when they introduce legislative initiatives to the State Duma. Only the Constitutional Court can interpret the Constitution," said Sharandin.

"Putting forth such an initiative means that they are not very familiar with jurisprudence," said the senator. According to him, the Primorsky Krai deputies chose an "obviously clumsy explanation" for the need to amend the Constitution. "Steps like this are not well-considered and are not beneficial," in his opinion.

According to Sharandin, Russian public opinion is more and more obviously in favor of Putin remaining in power after 2008. "But public opinion is one thing, and the legal initiatives of government officials are something else entirely," said the senator.

In Sharandin's opinion, the current line of developing the government should be continued. "And there are already many ways of doing this," said the committee chairman.

According to Sharandin, these include, among others, both amending the Constitution and the possibility of redistributing powers among the various branches of government. "But at this time I personally do not see the need to do this," emphasized Sharandin.

This seems to be the official line - intended to slap down the uppity, "legally illiterate" regional deputies who are under the mistaken impression that they can actually undertake legislative initiatives, while at the same time making it clear to anyone who's watching that if the right people in Moscow decide that Putin has to stay in office after 2008, they have "many ways" of making that happen. Democracy in action.

It's interesting that in some places reference is made to the initiative of one deputy, and in other places the reference is to "deputies." I guess they can't decide how many people are to blame for this.

While this may spell the end of Adam Imadaev's 15 minutes of fame, it clearly does not rule out the possibility that some steps will be taken at a later date to make sure that Putin stays in the driver's seat after 2008. And it will certainly generate some interesting comments in the media, probably from abroad as well as from within Russia.