A clear majority of Russians think Vladimir Putin should serve a third presidential term, and that the Constitution should be changed to allow him to do so, according to an opinion poll.
Asked whether the Constitution should be changed to allow Putin a third term, 59% said yes and 29% said no, the Yuri Levada Analytical Centre reported in a poll of 1 600 people across Russia. The idea is significantly more appealing to voters than it was in September.
The Levada centre poll comes amid persistent speculation that Putin could be coaxed into considering another term. The Constitution limits presidents to two consecutive terms, meaning Putin would have to stand down before the presidential vote in March 2008.
Putin has maintained a high popularity rating, with 77% approval of his performance. The poll gave his two favoured successors, first Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev and Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, 10% and 7% respectively. The poll has a 3% margin of error.
Despite his overwhelming popularity and domination of Russia’s managed democracy, Putin, a former KGB agent, is thought to have decided against a third term. But the idea resonates in the media, even as an anti-corruption drive continues to claim the heads of senior officials.
The long-serving Prosecutor General, Vladimir Ustinov, was fired on Friday, and several Cabinet ministers are rumoured to be on the way out. The Russian media says the changes are aimed at restoring the balance between liberals and hardliners in the administration and preserving Putin’s place as the guardian of stability and the future kingmaker.
Sergei Markov, an analyst close to the Kremlin, said: ”Putin has decided he will not run for president in 2008.” He said the subject was constantly stirred up in the media by rival groups for whom the idea was beneficial in different ways. There are those allies who are weak and are worried they might leave power in a restructuring of the government,” he said.
Putin’s enemies also wanted the idea kept alive, he said, to discredit him for seeking an authoritarian third term.
He said Putin’s allies also wanted to remind the political elite of his political potency, perhaps with a view to easing his return to the presidential post in 2012.
”When a father goes out for the night he doesn’t tell his kids exactly when he’ll be back, so they are sure he’ll return but also that it could be at any moment,” he said. – Guardian Unlimited Â