Presidential term bill approved

2008-11-26 18:00

Moscow - Russia's upper house of parliament on Wednesday voted to extend presidential terms, in the latest step forward for a bill that has prompted speculation about Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency.

The bill, which would amend the constitution to increase presidential terms from four to six years, was approved by a large majority of the 166-strong Federation Council.

All but one of the 145 members present voted in favour, with the remaining senator voting against, a spokesperson for the chamber told AFP.

President Dmitry Medvedev proposed the change earlier this month and the bill has already been rushed through the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, a haste that has raised suspicion among Kremlin critics.

Some political analysts say that the constitutional reform could be used as a justification for holding an early presidential election in which Putin, the current prime minister who is still very popular, could run again.

The bill now has to be approved by two-thirds of Russia's regional legislatures in what is seen as a foregone conclusion. It must then be voted on by the Federation Council a second time and signed into law by Medvedev.

The bill's supporters say the approval process will take around a month. If passed, the amendments would be the first changes to Russia's post-Soviet constitution since its adoption under former president Boris Yeltsin in 1993.

"I expect we can look at the decisions of the subjects of the Russian Federation on the laws adopted today... at a hearing on December 22 or December 30," Federation Council speaker Sergei Mironov told Itar-Tass news agency.

The constitutional amendments include an extension of parliamentary terms from the current four years to five as well as a provision for the government to report to parliament on a regular basis.

Medvedev said the reforms were needed to increase political stability.

In a commentary, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily on Wednesday said the reforms were pushing Russia towards becoming a parliamentary republic with a weakening of the strong presidential rule imposed by Vladimir Putin.

"Dmitry Medvedev's and Vladimir Putin's latest initiatives leave one to think that de-facto there is a parliamentary rather than presidential system being set up in the country," Nezavisimaya Gazeta said.

The newspaper also said that Russian authorities could be pushing the changes through so that they are in place ahead of celebrations to mark the 15th anniversary of the Russian constitution on December 12.

The Vedomosti business daily earlier this month cited two Kremlin sources saying that Medvedev would resign soon after the approval of the amendments and that Putin would then run in a presidential election next year.

- AFP