Did Putin Get Tereshkova to Clear a Path for Him to Stand for Reelection in 2024?
Or was he as blindsided as the rest of us?
Russian politics keeps turning up surprises, and you have to think that some of them surprise even those at the top of the Russian power system themselves.
When Vladimir Putin proposed amendments to the Russian constitution a few weeks ago, the general reaction of the Western press was to declare the act as a ‘power grab’ and proof that Putin intended to remain in power beyond the end of his last constitutionally permitted term as president in 2024. This narrative had a number of problems.
First, since the press had been telling us for years that Putin already had absolute power, it was hard to see how he could be ‘grabbing’ it.
Second, once the exact wording of the proposed amendments was announced, it was obvious that far from permitting Putin to stay in office, they guaranteed the opposite.
Furthermore, Putin specifically ruled out taking a job other than president, such as head of the State Council, thereby undercutting all the speculation that he was jiggling the system in such a way as to allow himself to continue to be in charge even while not being president. For a while it really did look like Putin would be well and truly gone in 2024.
Until today.
In a completely unexpected development, Valentina Tereshkova, best known for having been the first woman in space but now a member of the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, proposed to the Duma that once the new constitutional amendments come into force, the count of how many times somebody can be president be reset to zero.
This would allow Putin to stand once again for president in the election of 2024, and to serve two more terms as far as 2036.
Tereshkova’s proposal seems to have taken the Duma completely by surprise. Worse, nobody knew what to do with it. The idea hadn’t come from the Kremlin – at least not directly – but deputies couldn’t be certain that Tereshkova wasn’t acting as a conduit for Putin, and they didn’t want to vote her idea down just in case she was. What to do?
The answer was temporary paralysis, as the Duma tried to find out what Putin really thought, a problem which was resolved only by an emergency meeting attended by the president himself, who turned up at the Duma a short while after Tereshkova made her proposal to make an unscheduled speech. In this, Putin said:
The proposal to remove restrictions for any person, including the incumbent president … In principle, this option would be possible, but on one condition – if the Constitutional Court gives an official ruling that such an amendment would not contradict the principles and main provisions of the Constitution.
In short, Putin gave his consent to the idea, subject to a ruling from the Constitutional Court.
Was this Putin’s aim all along? Did he put Tereshkova up to it? Or was he as blindsided by her proposal as everybody else? It’s not clear. If he’d wanted this, it would have been simpler just to include it in the original amendments.
On the other hand, it arguably looks better if it appears to come as a result of some sort of demand from below, especially when voiced by somebody like Tereshkova who has something of a heroic status.
But then again, that status means that she has some independent moral authority and doesn’t have to do whatever the Kremlin asks her. So maybe it was her idea after all, and she was acting on her own. In that case, though, why didn’t Putin reject it?
It’s next to impossible to know what’s actually going on here.
For the past few weeks, Putin’s been sending strong signals that he really does plan to leave in 2024. So this is quite a reversal. The cynic in me imagines that in a political system as tightly controlled as Russia’s, today’s events can’t have been a surprise to the president. But the way it happened – the temporary paralysis in the Duma, and Putin’s sudden, unscheduled speech – suggest something rather more spontaneous. I pronounce myself flummoxed.
Of course, this doesn’t mean for certain that Putin will stay on as president post-2024. It’s possible that even if permitted to stand again, he’ll decide not to. Nor does it mean, as the Daily Telegraph immediately announced, that Putin would now be president ‘for life’.
But it certainly opens up the possibility that he’ll be hanging around in power for a lot longer yet. Having said that the proposed amendments precluded that (as indeed they did
before today), I find myself once again contemplating the wisdom of avoiding making firm predictions while engaging in punditry. What’s going to happen next? I don’t know. All we can do is sit back and see how things unfold.
Source: Irrussianality
#Russia Duma voted to reset #Putin term clock to zero. He didnt say explicitly he will stay on after 2024
whatever happens then, in S-T this solves Putin's "lame duck" prob: creates uncert as to if he will leave. that was a prob re elite
as usual P keeps all his options open pic.twitter.com/3VBOqqxp7M
— BenAris (@bneeditor) March 11, 2020
People why do you keep feeding this troll? Ignore him and he’ll eventually slither away
Slightly off topic but Russia finance related.
I’m not a financial nor trading expert, but it strike me the the dollar to ruble trade at 1:75 strikes me as an investment bargain.
Watching global markets tank with the unsureness that comes with predicting a bottom, but knowing the remedy(global helicopter money) is within grasp, I might think global investors have a bargain staring them like a sledgehammer.
Gold or the Russian ruble. Purchase Russia’s oil at discount.
Opinions?
Russia has bought the most gold of any nation in recent years so Gold! But that is not an investment, just a surety.
I won’t be long winded about this I’ll say one thing, this magnificent saviour of middle eastern Christians can stay as long as he likes!
But his best mate in China is busy destroying China’s Christians
Those communists are busy bulldozing churches and shrines
Maybe Putin cares, maybe he doesn’t
Frankly Putin couldn’t care less about Syrian Christians,why should he?
All he wants is his silly little military bases, which basically puts him the same business as America,ie a tin pot dictator, running a low grade form of Russian imperialism
I really don’t know why the Russians are doing this as it’ll only go wrong for them, just like it did in the past
Unless you are a Russian citizen eligible to vote it is non of your business what goes on in Russian internal affairs.
….but it is when Putin decides to interfere in other countries affairs
Like the MH17 shoot down
Or the Salisbury chemical warfare stunt,which of course is a long line of extra judicial killings which lead back to the kremlin
Or the five year killing spree in Syria,which has driven out millions of Syrian citizens
Apparently the rest of the world then has to look after these people
So you see it is our business who runs the kremlin as those people often make policies which have had really bad outcomes over the decades
Unfortunately one can’t avoid idiots and their dumb remarks.
At least the religious dictatorship in Tehran had the good grace to admit their mistake
Unfortunately the kremlin like to slither about in their own filthy and highly disrespectful propaganda
But then what do you expect from a regime built off the back of Stalinist totalitarian scum
You weren’t on Google Plus circa 2014, I take it? There was an infestation of people like Bob there spouting the exact same lines. In fact if one of the CIA media heads said one thing immediately all the bobs began saying the same thing in unison. At first they all had plausible looking back stories (one pretended to be a New Zealander that I remember) but as soon as one began to point out that they were all speaking from the same script they began to disappear. By 2015 all had left Google Plus for Twitter. I assume one’s trying his luck here again.
disagree–idiots like bob, amuse like children–easily avoided
Hey jew, I rather worry about your,judeobolshevik gulags and slaughter there, rather than your yiddish vomits! Snake,get lost!
Nazi!
Thanks, Tel Aviv, but we are already well aware of your tiresome views.
Truthful views
your views are, like your talmudite buddies, the opposite of truthful, honest or decent. It seems to be your nature or at the very least, part of your cult. Try to join the rest of the human race and learn to live by morals that don’t center on being “chosen” but rather center on true human values and morals. Do that and we’ll welcome you with open arms.
Since I’m not very inclined to go goose stepping,I’ll decline your offer
And what would be wrong with this???
The world needs Putin for his leadership from now until WW4!
Tereshkova deserves the Nobel Peace Prize!!!
To Asshole Bob, ,Putin doesn’t lead batallions to war like your satanic zionist pigs in the West!!!
Well thats really smart
We need a dictator in the kremlin who’ll take us into WW4 smart!
It really doesn’t matter.
Considering the many serious threats and risks on the horizon – weak world economy, coronavirus pandemic, US aggression on many fronts, Turkish aggression in Syria – I’m inclined to think Ms Tereshkova is right.
Putin has shown himself to be the most skilful statesman of his day – far-sighted, calm, practical, undogmatic, excellent at selecting key staff, working hard to keep good relations in the world, and possessing a deep genuine regard for the welfare of his country.
I do think the world has been very fortunate in having both Putin and Xi at a challenging time, and I think it is likely to become even more challenging. The US is being run by dangerous people, and I don’t mean only Trump.
The world doesn’t need Putin
He doesn’t have good relations, he’s under sanctions for invading Ukraine and allowing his proxy forces to kill a plane full of innocent people
He’s mates with a bunch of religious dictators in Tehran, who kill and torture their own people and who want to spread their malign hate across the middle east, at least they admitted their crime of shooting down a plane full of innocent people
He doesn’t have a genuine regard for Russian people, if he did the economy wouldn’t be failing them, an economy which is now one of the must unequal in the world,even more so than America,now that really is some achievement!
People will look back and see this man as a chancer, a criminal, a bluffer, a bully and someone who had an opportunity to genuinely make Russia a better place
But instead he couldn’t get over the failure of the USSR
A pathetic and childish man without honour or morals
What parallel universe do you inhabit?
He’s got good relations,Putin, that is, with tin pot failure nations like Syria,North Korea,Venezuela,and Iran and the idiot dictators who micromanage those countries
Honestly its like the opening sequence of that hilariously funny film, The Naked Gun
Thats when inspector Frank Drebin kicks hell out of all the worlds dictators,very funny!
If this film was made today Putin would be sat right there with all the other dictator scum and he’d be sat there because he’s living in the past
Thats why Russia will ultimately end up as a failing state
Failing state? So pleased to know that I will be watching your demise not the other way.
Troll or ignorant. Either way, go away.
FFS Russia is under sanctions,how much of that don’t you understand?
And why do think that is?
Here’s a clue because he hasn’t got good relations with the most powerful economic block in the world, and even worse relations with the biggest economy in the world!
Frankly who cares if Putin has good relations with other tin pot countries,they don’t matter
Hey Stupid…Russia under sanctions because they are an economic threat to U.S…No they do not threaten the U.S but they cannot compete with rising Russia ..Putin’s actions are always righteous…the U.S is a malevolent force the 2 countries literally cannot speak the same language….now I am done with you…Perhaps you are better suited to Candy Crush….pls GO!
I understand fully what is happening on this planet. It is fools like you that need to understand. You are a dickhead bob, wake up fool.
You have no idea,other than the propaganda BS you consume created for you by the kremlin
A colossally ignorant response.
Waste Of breath to go through the points with someone who could post such crap.
It would be like throwing “pearls before swine” in Jesus’s words.
No you’re some sort of Putin fan boy, a Putin groupie no less
Your analysis, if thats what it can be called, on your blog incidentally, is the most sycophantic clap trap I’ve ever read
Obviously the kremlin propaganda has really got into your little grey cells
If your blog post was parody it’d be great, a veritable work of genius, unfortunately you’ve become so addled by kremlin propaganda you actually believe this BS
chuckman you’re a REALLY sad bloke,please take my advice, go seek some sort of therapy before you’re totally lost to the dark side
Unfortunately you won’t, so at some point in the future you’ll have to deal with the fact that Putin wasn’t the golden boy, probably once the Russians are forced through their desperation to do something very stupid and likely very dangerous, or they simply collapse as they’ve done in the past
Lets all hope for the latter
Hey bob
Post something mildly insightful or factual.
Just for a change
Hey Bob…Putin IS the best leader of consequence the world has ever seen…people in the west have benefited directly and indirectly from his actions which are primarily designed to ensure Russia’s sovereignty well into the future, but it is NOT time for him to leave….On to you…you must be a paid troll. Dumb or uninformed people seldom comment on geo political matters, but for a few slingshot comments…they’re not well represented here…Don’t get me wrong, I’m not6 saying you are intelligent…its obvious your I.Q is well above room temp…falling short of 3 digits. I for one am grateful for Chuckman’s commentary
He only looks good because everyone else is so bad!
Maybe western leaders don’t take him seriously,and thats why Putin has to give war like tub thumping speeches about all his wonder weapons
If I’m right,then that puts him in the attention seeker category,not leader category
Personally ive watched Putin very carefully for the last decade, his speeches and so on,whats obvious is how angry he is,he’s basically a bitter twisted little man the rest of the world thinks is unimportant
I can assure one thing,if it wasn’t for all Russia’s nukes nobody would take them seriously at all because they’ve got very little to offer apart fro oil and gas,and since the world is currently going through any energy transition to renewables it’ll leave Russia in a terrible position in the future,currently they have no plan to deal with this as they haven’t developed the depth in their economy,unlike China who are light years ahead of Russia on every metric
Thats why i often say that Russia and its foreign policy will become more a liability for the Chinese than asset, the Chinese will decouple from Russia but not before they’ve exploited them
The trouble with so many people on forums like this is they think Putins Russia is some sort of economic giant, a power house,well its not,China is but Russia has squandered its opportunity and is slipping slowly into decline,economically,demographically and politically its going in the wrong direction
Well said, you are 100% correct.
I know that there’s men and women who are equally as proficient and capable of leading Russia as President Putin, but I think that he, singularly, has an intelligence, a complex military brain, a analytic cognitive reasoning and unquestionable Statesman qualities that place him head and shoulders above any leader in the world today…….the only man that I think could have come close was the late Qasem Soleimani and that warranted his murder by the moronic village idiot holding the Presidential title in the US.
I wouldn’t be so sure he could be replaced. Leaders like Putin are not exactly common in History.
Putin is a criminal
He runs a criminal oligarchy
He has blood on his hands
And you Sir must be some sort of moron for supporting such a scumbag
The boyz in Tel Aviv are making a real effort here.
This one is a real turkey
Sorry chuckman to disappoint,not in Tel Aviv
You REALLY are a lost cause,i didn’t realize just how far down the rabbit hole you’d gone
All the way it appears
hey booby boy! i just want you to know that i don’t read any of your other postings anymore. I just downvote you. You’ve shown yourself to be a real bonafide shmuck (to use a word from your own people’s vocabulary).
Hey everyone, please don’t feed the Tel Aviv troll. Just downvote this idiot and move on.
I like the word shmuck
Unfortunately,and i really don’t like to piss on your parade,its not from my people,sorry!
Oh, do please carry on with the down vote thing, as i enjoy the fact its had the desired effect
I didn’t realise until just now that it was *that* Tereshkova.
Either way Putin needs to create a clear line of succession. He’s not getting younger and the apres moi l’deluge approach won’t work. There are enough Yeltsins waiting in the wings.
I fear that the court will oppose this….civilized people desire continuity in their leadership—e.g China, Russia
weak amerikans desire weak leaders—examined by everyone from Gorer to Hofstadter….as Boorstin observed, amerikans r so shallow and stupefied that they purchase products advertised by celebrities that don’t use them….gullible murikans will believe anything they r required by their CIA
AS ZINOVIEV WROTE 20 years ago, “world domination manifests itself as an intellectual, or if u prefer a cultural diktat. this is why the amerikans have so zealously tried the bring down the intellectual and cultural common denominator of the entire world down to their own level. try to convince an amerikan that their values will destroy Russia–you will not be able.”
obvious—amerikans have no values except money….”Euoropean and traditional cultures have a super-ego, amerikan culture does not”. Daniel Dayan
“it is not Russianism that will destroy Europe–it is amerikanism”. Martin Heidegger ….Heidigger described amerikanism as “putrefaction”….this is uncontroversial. the British anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer wrote that the boorishness and insecurity of amerikans “bewildered Europeans”