Russian voters may have President Vladimir Putin to kick around for eight more years after lawmakers Wednesday made progress on a bill that would allow Mr. Putin to run for two more presidential terms.
A package of constitutional changes pushed through by the Kremlin last year established a new two-term limit for the presidency going forward, but the bill approved by the lower house of the State Duma clarifies that this does not retroactively apply to Mr. Putin’s previous multiple terms in the top job.
The upper chamber of parliament is projected to take up and pass the bill later this month.
The onetime KGB agent has been in power since 2001. He has been president for all but six years since then, serving as prime minister with top ally Dmitry Medvedev held the presidency from 2012 to 2018. Without the constitutional changes and the legislative action, Mr. Putin, 68, faced the prospect of having to step down in 2024.
Mr. Putin has not said definitively if he will run again in 2024, but is widely expected to do so.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.