It was barely a year ago when Vladimir Putin picked his Dimitry Medvedev to succeed him as President of Russia. At the time, there were more than a few people, myself included, who wondered if Putin was really giving up power, or if Putin might try to return to the Russian Presidency some day.
All I can say is, well that didn’t take long:
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev could resign from his post in 2009 to pave the way for Vladimir Putin to return to the Kremlin, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an unidentified source close to the Kremlin.
Medvedev Wednesday proposed increasing the presidential term to six years from four years, a step the newspaper said was part of a plan drawn up by Vladislav Surkov, who serves as Medvedev’s first deputy chief of staff.
Under the plan, Medvedev could implement changes to the constitution and unpopular social reforms “so that Putin could return to the Kremlin for a longer period,” the newspaper said.
“Under this scenario Medvedev could resign early citing changes to the constitution and then presidential elections could take place in 2009,” the newspaper said, citing the unidentified source close to the Kremlinl.
The paper said Putin, who is currently prime minister, could then rule for two six year terms, so from 2009 to 2021.
Or, you know, longer than that if he wanted to.
