Putin voices first indication of 2018 presidential run
By Ali Mustafayev
Russian leader Vladimir Putin was asked to participate in the next presidential election.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has given the first public indication that he will run for a new term when answering a question from a group of villagers in the Siberian republic of Buryatia via a TV link.
“Vladimir Vladimirovich, we have a request – we all ask you to register as a candidate in the next presidential elections, we would all be very glad when it happens,” they said, as quoted by TASS.
Previously the members of the United Russia party stated that they will support Putin’s candidacy for the elections.
Vladimir Putin stated that he is not sure if he is going to run for the presidency at the next election, but promised to do everything he can for the elections’ conformity to the constitution.
Earlier, both the president and his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, had always said that it was too early to discuss the issue.
The next presidential elections in Russia are scheduled for early 2018. The exact date is yet to be announced, but according to Russian law the election must be held on the second Sunday of the month of the previous election – which in this case would be March 11.
In March 2017, the head of the upper house Committee for Constitutional Law, Senator Andrey Klishas, drafted a bill seeking to set the date of the 2018 polls as March 18, to coincide with the commemoration of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
Several political parties have already declared their candidates, in particular Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Grigory Yavlinsky, Alexey Navalny and other well-known Russian politicians announced their intention to participate in presidential election 2018.
Recent polls have shown that over 80 percent of Russians approve of Putin’s work as president, with about two-thirds of the public stating they want him to remain president for another term.
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