Putin Hints Leaving His Position by 2025

Recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin has dropped a hint, which is seen by some as a sign that he may not serve another term. During his annual marathon news conference, he also defended his policies.

The marathon news conference that runs for four hours and twenty-five minutes is probably the longest ever question-answer session by Putin in a format, which has become an annual end-of-year tradition for the Russian leader.

Vladimir Putin is soon going to complete two decades in power since Boris Yeltsin handed him the presidency at the beginning of 2000. He faced the media as Russia is still seen isolated internationally, as his mandate ends in 2024.

In the conference, more than 1800 reporters participated which is focused mainly on the bread-and-butter regional issues that stretch from the Baltic to the Pacific.

The most talked-about moment came when President Putin indicated that he was in favour of removing the word ‘successive’ from a clause in the Russian constitution, according to which the Russian President should only serve for two successive terms.

If the clause is implemented, Putin could not continue after his current term ends in 2024, he cannot repeat the trick of 2008 when he temporarily handed the power of Kremlin to his close ally Dmitry Medvedev to get around the two mandate rule.

In his reply, Putin said, “Your humble servant served two successive terms and then stepped down and had the constitutional right to return to the post of president. But some of our political scientists and activists do not like this and maybe this could be removed, possibly”.

The Editor of Russian broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonyan wrote on a Twitter post, “If anyone had any doubts about whether the chief will seek another presidential term, he will not”.

As without a successor in sight at this stage, Head of R Politik an analysis firm Tatiana Stanovaya said it was not clear if Putin’s comments represented an “incentive to start a discussion or a decision that will be realised. He has also increased the arguments in favour of a scenario of stepping down. Now the search for a successor will begin”.

But when he was asked to sum up his two decades in office after being named premier by Yeltsin in the year 1999 to running the government as President and Premier to date. Putin said Russia had been passing through the ‘civil war’ with the conflict in Chechnya, when he took over office. He also transformed the economy since the 1998 financial crisis.

Putin’s popularity ratings have fallen since he was at the peak during the 2014 annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, still, he enjoy the popular support of a majority of Russians.