Russia is preparing for the presidential race, the elections on 11 March 2018. Everything points to the fact that the President of Russia Vladimir Putin will run for a fourth six-year term in the absence of worthy competitors. Despite the fact that according to the Constitution he cannot serve as President more than two consecutive terms. But Putin was able to circumvent this article, leaving the Kremlin, and occupying the post of Prime Minister in the period from 2008 to 2012, then to return again to the presidential office.
Indeed, during his third presidential term Vladimir Putin has achieved great success, bearing in mind Syria and Ukraine in foreign policy, the annexation of Crimea. The President will not meet real opponents in the upcoming elections, also vying for the presidency. Among the competitors Putin may be the leader of the Communist party Gennady Zyuganov, the leader of the liberal democratic party Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the founder of the party “Yabloko” Grigory Yavlinsky, and is the Creator of the “Fund of struggle against corruption” and the opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
So far Putin has not announced his intention to run in presidential elections next year. He said it is not yet time to nominate as a candidate at elections to be held in March 2018.
At the end of his visit to China, Putin stressed that Russia is not affected by global cyber attack. At a press conference held at the end of the forum of “One belt, one road” in Beijing, the Russian President gave a brief answer to the question of whether this is the appropriate time to announce a decision about his political future: “No.”
Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that Putin’s silence about the possibility of running in the upcoming elections due to the fact that the Kremlin is now a different agenda, and added that the race hasn’t started yet.
Associated with the upcoming elections and rallies held in several Russian cities last month. The demonstrators demanded that President Vladimir Putin was nominated for a new term.
In the center of Moscow in the Kitay-Gorod police prevented demonstrations against Putin, which was planned by the movement “Open Russia”, acting with the support of businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
After that, the band performed in front of the presidential Administration under the supervision of the police and demanded that Putin did not run for a new term in the presidential election that will be held on 11 March 2018.
However, the poll shows that 63% of Russians want a re-nomination of Vladimir Putin to the presidency.
The survey “Levada-Center” showed that 22% of Russians want Putin gone, and at the head of the state appeared new face, and 14% of respondents are in doubt, they prefer to re-choose Putin or not.
The survey included 1600 citizens in 137 cities, towns and villages throughout Russia, under 18 years of age.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that only the Russian people will choose his successor to the presidency.
“The President is not an appointed official, only the people can choose it”, — Putin said at a meeting of the Russian organizing Committee “Victory” in last month.
In February, the Kremlin announced that Putin’s participation in presidential elections is still not included in the agenda.
In 2016, Putin said that when the presidential election is approaching, he will look at the situation in Russia and the world, and will decide whether to run.
Vladimir Putin was first elected President of the Russian Federation on 26 March 2000 and took office on 7 may of the same year.
The second time he was elected President on March 14, 2004, and may 8, 2008 started to work as Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
Then he was again re-elected to the position of President of the Russian Federation on March 8, 2012. After the votes were counted it turned out that he scored of 64.72%. According to the law in the first round the winning candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.
