Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday he would run for president again in the 2024 presidential election, a move expected to keep him in power until at least 2030.
WHEN?
The election will be held over three days from March 15-17 and the winner will be inaugurated in May.
The upper house of the Russian parliament voted for the date on Thursday – essentially the start of the election campaign.
Voting will also take place in what Russia calls its new territories – parts of Ukraine now controlled by Russian forces. Ukraine says it will not rest until it has ejected every last soldier from the annexed territories. Russia says the regions are now part of Russia.
HOW MANY VOTERS?
Around 110 million people have the right to vote in Russia, though around 70-80 million people usually cast ballots.
Turnout in 2018 was 67.5%.
HOW LONG CAN A RUSSIAN PRESIDENT RULE?
Putin, who was handed the presidency by Boris Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, has already served as president for longer than any other ruler of Russia since Josef Stalin, beating even Leonid Brezhnev’s 1964-82 tenure.
The 1993 Russian constitution, based loosely on France’s 1958 constitution, was seen by some in the West as a development that would lead to democracy in post-Soviet Russia.
It originally specified that a president could serve for two successive terms of four years.
Amendments in 2008 extended the presidential term to six years, while amendments in 2020 effectively allowed Putin to run for a further two six-year terms after 2024.
The changes also banned ceding any territory.
PUTIN’S ELECTION RECORD
Putin used a Kremlin awards ceremony for soldiers who had fought in Ukraine to announce he would run again. Reuters reported last month that he had decided to do so. He will be assured of victory given backing from the state and its media.
After Putin was appointed as acting president by Yeltsin on the last day of 1999, he won the 2000 presidential election with 53.0% of the vote and the 2004 election with 71.3% of the vote.
In 2008, his protege Dmitry Medvedev ran for president and Putin served as prime minister before garnering 63.6% of the vote in the 2012 presidential election and 76.7% in 2018.
