I Think He Likes Power

[albaqwerty]

Vladmir Putin that is.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42256140

[emmie]

shame someone can't pull the plug..

[Gromit]

He’s just seen the election results, so why not ?

[Jackdaw33]

Compared with Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev Putin is just a little pussy cat.

[albaqwerty]

Am not too sure about Russian politics, but wasn't he prime minister, then president, then prime minister (twice), then president again? (he's got stamina!)

Saw a picture of him on his 2018 calendar with a snow leopard - dear me! man is either foolhardy or brave

[Jackdaw33]

Russia adopted the American system whereby a president can only serve two consecutive terms. Putin got round that by putting up a stooge when his time ran out in exchange for the job of PM. Once the stooge's (Medvedev) time was up Putin was eligible to stand again. One smart cookie in my book.

[fender62]

no real democracy in russia, i think their constitution is written in pencil...

[albaqwerty]

thanks jack

wonder if he wants to try to change the constitution so he can be president for ever? (scary thought)

fender, I wouldn't be surprised.

[ichkeria]

The American system is "only two terms full stop"
The Russian system was (and still is) "two consecutive terms"
What he also did was get the nodding dogs of the Duma to extend the presidential term to 6 years from 4 (they don't bother with referendums) - the first 6 year term is about to expire

Anyway, not sure this is even "news". He can't really not stand, as the whole rotten system would collapse without him.
I wonder how many votes he got and where they have stored the result for safe keeping.
And will Xenia Sobchak be this year's "authenticity" candidate alongside Zyuganov and Zhirinovsky

[Jackdaw33]

The American system is "only two terms full stop"

Are you sure about that?

[albaqwerty]

I am willing to learn Ich :-D

oh my, getting the presidential term extended to 6 years from 4? (please don't tell you-know-who!)

[ichkeria]

From wikipedia:
Tenure and term limits
Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to four terms before the adoption of the Twenty-second Amendment in 1951.

"The term of office for president and vice president is four years. George Washington, the first president, set an unofficial precedent of serving only two terms. Before Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt each unsuccessfully sought a third term. In 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to a third term after being "drafted" by his party. In 1941, the United States entered World War II, leading voters to elect Roosevelt to a fourth term in 1944. Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, 82 days into his fourth term.

After the war, and in response to Roosevelt being elected to third and fourth terms, the Twenty-second Amendment was adopted. The amendment bars anyone from being elected president more than twice, or once if that person served more than half of another president's term. Harry S. Truman, president when this amendment was adopted, was exempted from its limitations and briefly sought a third (a second full) term before withdrawing from the 1952 election."

So the 28th Amendment only stipulates two terms. One president did serve non-consecutive terms (Grover Cleveland?) tho that was before the current rules anyway

[ichkeria]

22nd Amendment (doh)

[scooping]

Used to work in the old Soviet Union. How little times have changed.

[Jackdaw33]

I have never understood the logic behind it. If the people want someone to serve a third term, why not?

[albaqwerty]

I think that's the issue, Jack, ~IF the people want their leader to stand again, then fine.
Surely it shouldn't just be up to the leader tho, to decide that he/she is going to carry on -
why on earth am I reminded of Julius Caesar?
didn't he decide he was going to be carrying on ad infinitum but was stopped?
(history isn't my strong suit)

[ichkeria]

"I have never understood the logic behind it. If the people want someone to serve a third term, why not? "

Not a view I might have agreed with until this time round :-)

[Jackdaw33]

How about Kim Il Sung? President for life of NK, even though he's been dead for over 25 years.

[Old_Geezer]

Perhaps someone told he that if he ran, they'd ensure he was Put in.