More on Alexander Khinshtein

Incidentally, Khinshtein's been in the news today also. According to Echo of Moscow, he's now going after Abramovich:

10.08.2005 - Chukotka Governor Roman Abramovich and former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kas'ianov, as it turns out, vacationed together - at least, State Duma Deputy Alexander Khinshtein has come out with a statement to that effect today. Previously, an inquiry by Khinshtein led to a criminal case being opened against Kas'ianov regarding his acquisition of a government dacha. According to Khinshtein, several days ago Kas'ianov was vacationing on Abramovich's yacht in the Mediterranean Sea. The deputy alleges that the "politicians were discussing the upcoming 2007 and 2008 elections." To quote Interfax [not clear whether Echo is quoting Interfax quoting Khinshtein, or just quoting Interfax]: "This fact proves that the Family is consolidating its forces in the lead-up to the next presidential and parliamentary elections."

Well, better lock up Roma, in that case. Clearly something here smells fishy... Good thing Khinshtein is around to get to the bottom of whatever ill deeds are being plotted by these jointly vacationing, yacht-sailing neer-do-wells.

This muckraker-turned-deputy is so odious, that even an apparent break-in at his apartment provokes no sympathy in my mind - but it does keep him in the news! Also from Echo of Moscow:

10.08.2005 - An attempt was made to illegally enter the apartment of State Duma Deputy Alexander Khinshtein in Moscow. Yesterday, the door to the apartment was found open, although Khinshtein's wife had locked the door using two locks when she left home. Alexander Khinshtein does not think that the unknown persons who were able to open reliable locks without breaking them did so in order to perform utility work in the apartment. Furthermore, he does not exclude the possibility that poison may have been planted in the apartment.

Russian tabloid waves the flag for Karimov and Khinshtein

I had been following the story about the US getting evicted from the Karshi-Khanabad base in Uzbekistan out of the corner of my eye - my sister thoughtfully sent me a Washington Post article on the topic, and of course I've been following posts on the issue on Registan.

Then last week at the McDonald's (yes, friends, sometimes while in faraway lands I succumb to the temptation that dare not speak its name, a piping-hot 9-piece bag of Chicken McNuggets) in downtown Chisinau, I started reading the August 2 issue of Komsomol'skaya Pravda Moldova. This is the local version of the Russian tabloid Komsomol'skaia Pravda, which runs stories from the parent publication along with local items such as "Second-hand [clothing] Banned in Moldova." KP also has a Kazakhstan edition, and perhaps others.

Tashkent has given the USA six months to remove its bases" (translated by me)
Viktor Baranets, August 2, 2005

The Uzbek authorities have given Washington an ultimatum - they are to remove from Uzbek territory the Khanabad airbase (twenty airplanes and nearly 800 personnel) within six months. The base has been deployed in the republic since the spring of 2002, when the forces of the antiterrorist coalition were conducting the operation against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Until recently, the Uzbek authorities had not even dropped hints that the Americans should go home. But after the bloody events in Andijan in June [sic. - the events actually occurred in May] everything changed dramatically. The USA accused Tashkent of "crushing democracy." The response was not long in coming: President Islam Karimov advised the Americans to "go home."

They apparently thought he was joking and did not react for some time. But when Karimov once again officially repeated his position, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld traveled to Tashkent in an instant in order to try to save the situation.

But the Uzbek leader didn't give in to the Americans' persuasion (or even to their threats). The Americans immediately took revenge - giving the Uzbeks who had fled to Kirghizia the status of "political refugees," they transported them to Europe and began presenting them as "victims of Karimov's totalitarian regime." Then Karimov demanded, rather than suggesting, that the USA leave Khanabad. And gave them six months to do so.

This escalation of tensions in Uzbek-American relations has yet another, little-known cause: the Khanabad base housed not only airmen but also personnel from one of the branches of the US special services, who were clandestinely preparing a "cotton" revolution in the republic. Now this operation has apparently fallen through.

Why does it matter what a newspaper publishes when it can't even get basic facts straight (it's a striking dereliction of journalistic duty, or at the very least astonishingly bad fact-checking, to report that the uprising in Andijan occurred in June) ? Well, maybe it doesn't, but, say what you will about KP, it does have a large circulation - 30 million per month, counting all of the paper's various editions, according to the proud graphic on the newspaper's front page, and 10,000 for the daily edition in Moldova. This is the type of news read by the average Russian, who's either far away from Moscow where pulp like KP is all that's available or is not inclined to read more responsible newspapers like Kommersant and Vedomosti.

The August 2 KP also provides us with some insight into the thought process, if it can be called that, of Russian Duma Deputy Alexander Khinshtein, the man behind the attempt to discredit Mikhail Kas'ianov with allegations that he privatized his government dacha in a shady way (here's Kommersant's take on that story, in English).

State Duma Deputy Alexander Khinshtein: "I won't say who's next, so as not to scare anyone!" (translated by me)

It's possible that members of Yeltsin's family will come under fire in the near future.

Alexander Khinshtein: "Prepare for landing [trans. - in Russian this word - posadka - is similar to the word for being put in jail], Mr. Rushailo!"
[AK:] "Well, what of it, I really don't like the Family," Alexander Khinshtein confirmed in a telephone interview. "I think that the state should be an orphan. And all members of the Family should be locked up in the same cell, after dividing the men and women, of course."
[KP:] "Why did you jump so quickly from Kas'ianov to Rushailo?"
[AK:] "The one doesn't interfere with the other. Some information was received, and I put in a request for data on the property holdings of Rushailo and his family members."
[KP:] "Where do you get such information?"
[AK:] "From various places. Sometimes voters write in, sometimes it's journalists I know. Let's say you were to call me and tell me that you saw a fancy mansion somewhere, and the locals confirm that someone in power is living there. We'll get to the bottom of it."
[KP:] "And what are the potential results?"
[AK:] "It depends who you're talking about. With respect to Vladimir Rushailo, it's hard to say, for the time being. But with Kas'ianov, I think, everything's become clear already. All of the schemes he used to acquire the real estate are apparent, and all of the deals have been uncovered. Khodorkovsky said that the former Prime Minister would become president. Well, now they can propose each other as candidates to be the senior guy in their prison cell. It's too bad they let Yaponchik out. They would have made a great trio."
[KP:] "They say that Kas'ianov has some compromising information [kompromat], which might help him get out of this situation."
[AK:] "What compromising information, about who? Our President is a saint - he doesn't smoke, he doesn't drink, he does judo."
[KP:] "Who's the next person on your 'black list'?"
[AK:] "It's too soon to say, I don't want to scare anyone."

At the same time, sources in the Duma have told us that the next "target" of Alexander Khinshtein will be none other than family members (with a lower-case letter) of the first President of the Russian Federation [Yeltsin].

Leaving aside how distasteful it is for an elected official to posture in print like this about what is essentially a watered-down reprise of the 1930's purges (with anonymous tips and show trials used to get rid of former political elites who have become inconvenient to those currently in Putin's inner circle), the supportive tone of KP's reportage leaves a reader with no doubt where the publication's sympathies lie. I guess one of the attractions of tabloid journalism to its readers is that it tells them how to think. It's not surprising that Khinshtein's career, prior to attaining the exalted status of Russian Duma Deputy, was as a columnist for the tabloid Moskovskii Komsomolets, which is just as "yellow" as KP.

Pavlovsky on the third-term initiative

From today's issue of Johnson's Russia List:

BBC Monitoring
Kremlin adviser negative about third term for Putin
Source: Ekho Moskvy news agency, Moscow, in Russian
0859 gmt 10 Aug 05 [No dateline, as received]

President of the Effective Policy Foundation Gleb Pavlovskiy has dismissed the initiative by Maritime Territory legislators to amend the constitution in order to allow President Vladimir Putin to run for a third term in office.

"It's a bad idea," Pavlovskiy told Ekho Moskvy radio. The legal arguments backing the initiative do not stand up to any criticism, he said. Pavlovskiy sees the idea as "political capitulation".

"These deputies say that they don't know how to run the country without Putin in the Kremlin. It means that they are unfit for their jobs and have already failed to do their work properly," he said."

The idea to hide behind the back of one person is well known to us," he went on to say. "Instead, they should have worked with Putin's supporters and created a strong political force that could work effectively with or without Putin in office," he said.

They should ask Putin's backers whether they want it [changing the constitution] or not, Pavlovskiy said. "The debates on the third term are splitting Putin's supporters roughly in half," he said.

The parliamentary and presidential elections [in 2007-08] "must create a competitive and legitimate authority, recognized in and outside Russia, otherwise they will develop into a crisis," Pavlovskiy said.

It seems that Maritime Territory deputies "are planning a crisis well in advance and are ready to launch it ahead of the election time", he concluded.

Random amazing website

I was hunting around yesterday for the website of the Moldovan TV channel NIT, which I never found. I did, however, stumble across this rather detailed review of Moldovan TV ratings and the advertising market as of June 2005 (in Russian). Just in case anyone besides me is interested in that sort of thing.

5000-ruble notes to circulate in 2006

Wealthy New Russians will be able to throw around the bling-bling with a bit more authority next year - the Central Bank is planning to introduce 5000-ruble notes (worth about $175 at current rates) in 2006.

Official sources at the CBR explained that this step is necessary for the happy reason that Russians' salaries are growing, an explanation also picked up by RIA Novosti in their brief item on this (in English).

Echo of Moscow, as usual, has a more dire explanation (my translation):

[...] Officially, the need to circulate such a large banknote was explained as a consequence of the growth of the average salary in Russia. However, most Russians' salaries haven't yet reached 5000 rubles. This step benefits the Central Bank itself first and foremost, since it will save on money-printing costs. In addition, cash transportation expenses will be reduced. Many analysts think that the introduction of a 5000-ruble banknote is not just a technical step. This is an alarming sign, thinks Dmitry Belyaev, Deputy Director of the Scientific-Research Institute for Macroeconomic Studies and Forecasting.

Consumer prices in Russia have risen by 8% in the past six months. [...]

[Update] Lindsay's comment on the original post leads me to add a bit of speculation which I was thinking about earlier. No doubt kiosk attendants and cashiers throughout Russia are contemplating this news and cementing a solemn collective pact to never, ever make change for a 5000-ruble note.

Background on the "legally illiterate" Primor'e Deputy

Adam Imadaev does not have many Google hits in English.

But this one, from the March 2004 issue of Russian Far East News, is sort of interesting:

Primorye deputies go on hunger strike

A group of deputies from the Primorye Duma went on hunger strike in January to protest the bankruptcy of various local companies, including Bor, which operates Russia's largest deposit of boron-containing ore, Vostok-Media news agency reported. All except one deputy, Adam Imadaev, ended the hunger strike after 10 days. "Along with six kilograms of weight, in this short time I have had to lose my last remaining illusions about the future of Russian democracy," said another deputy, Valery Korolyuk. The group promised to continue their campaign despite the end of the hunger strike. They believe that Bor's bankruptcy is illegal and that the company can pay its creditors. Imadaev ended his hunger strike after nearly three weeks, having been elected chairman of a temporary deputies' commission to investigate the bankruptcies.

There's another one that's a bit more interesting. Apparently, Imadaev has also been known as Kovalev in the past.

Tax Police Cancels Deals Of Bailout Management Of EvroBank

The Primorsky Tax Police has revealed new facts of the misuse of funds at EvroBank, a local commercial bank for the mining industry which filed for bankruptcy in 1998.

Of particular interest, allegedly in order to pay off the debts of the bank, which amounted to 30 million rubles, the bailout management of the bank sold its portion of shares of the Lermontovsky Ore Mining company, 14 million shares, and the shares of some other profitable companies belonging to the bank, for a total of 43 million rubles. It seemed to be enough to pay off the debts. However, Evrobank's general license has been revoked by the Central Bank seven days after the deal.

The tax police revealed that shares and some other assets, such as the bank's office buildings in several cities of the Krai, had been sold illegally by general director, Imadaev, to the two daughter companies, DalTrasFlot and the Primorsky Krai Accounting Chamber. The terms of payment, a three-year deferment, was made without shareholders' approval, and was absolutely unprofitable for the almost bankrupt bank which was in an acute need of cash rather than bills at that time. The two daughter companies were established by the general director, Imadaev, himself in 1996.

Moreover, the police revealed that 'Imadaev' is not the general director's the only family. He went by the name 'Kovalev' at the time of the registration of his daughter companies, but officially changed his family name and his middle name in 1998. According to Imadaev, he changed his name after having realized his "national roots." Adam Kovalev-Imadaev was the president of EvroBank from September 8, 1998 to January 25, 1999.

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.

Mosnews is on the story; more importantly, so is RIA Novosti

Mosnews has a brief item in English on the proposal to allow Putin to run for a third term. It contains no new information and refers to the NTV report.

RIA Novosti just came out with a story (in Russian) reporting opposition to the initiative from several officials. This is probably going to be the official line on this initiative, which may now die down as quickly as it started. I'm going to translate it, not that I don't have better things to do, but it may be the last word on the story (or it may not, who knows?).

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.

Say it ain't so

I woke up this morning to hear Echo of Moscow wags discussing with great consternation the initiative of a regional parliament deputy in the Russian Far East to remove the constitutional restriction limiting Russian Presidents to two consecutive terms of service. Echo then gave listeners the opportunity to call in, and responses were predictably negative, given the tendency of Echo's audience to skew anti-Putin. Here's the story on the deputy's initiative from Lenta.ru (in Russian).

Echo had an interview (in Russian, the link has part of the interview along with other comments on this story) with the man who appears to be behind this initiative, Adam Imadaev, a deputy of the Primorsky Krai legislative assembly, and he didn't sound very impressive. He kept repeating his position that the current term limit deprives Russian citizens of the opportunity to elect the person of their choice as president. This is a fairly common argument against term limits, the pros and cons of which are intimately familiar to me, since I was a political science major in the US in the mid-1990's, when term limits became a very fashionable policy for legislators and a common subject of student debates. In detail, the argument goes like this: the Russian Constitution permits any mentally competent citizen (with, I'm sure, some age restrictions, the details of which I don't know) who is not in prison to be elected president, therefore placing any other restriction - such as a term limit - on who can be elected president is unconstitutional.

Apparently (according to the pundits on Echo), Putin mentioned something last week or two weeks ago while in Finland about wanting to remain President, but not being able to because of the Constitution. For now, it remains to be seen whether this is the independent initiative of a publicity- and favor-seeking local legislator, or whether Imadaev is just carrying the water for someone in the Kremlin. Fortunately for Putin, he's able to send up numerous trial balloons, and there have already been a couple of proposals floated this year to change the structure of the Russian government or the election laws in order to create the potential for Putin to remain in power.

Perhaps this initiative, like the ones which came before, will go nowhere. But it seems that someone can't stop thinking about how to keep VVP in power beyond 2008. I guess it's easier than coming up with a new leader, now that they've spent so much time and resources making Putin popular. Wouldn't it be nice, though, if Putin's team could just be transparent about it, mount a constitutional amendment initiative, and get the necessary regional legislature approvals? Perhaps they're waiting for enough buzz to be generated around the idea so that it doesn't appear to be a top-down initiative; it's also possible that Putin's inner circle is divided on this question, as there may be individuals who see themselves or individuals close to them as possible successors.

I am sure we can expect an avalanche of commentary and speculation (most of it more educated than my vague guesses) about this story in tomorrow's Russian press, and maybe even some thoughts from Russia observers in the West. For now, the English-language press appears to be silent on the story (couldn't find anything on Google News). You heard it here first.