Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet decided whether he would run for his fifth presidential term in 2024, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.
The official was commenting on a report by the Russian business daily Kommersant business daily, which said that the president could run as an independent candidate in March year. No other potential candidate has so far announced a presidential bid.
“No decision on this issue has been taken yet,” Peskov said, adding that it “was understandably drawing more attention from political scientists and experts.”
When asked about his potential candidacy at the Eastern Economic Forum in September, the Russian leader responded that he would decide once the date of the next election was set.
Under Russian laws, the presidential election should take place at some point in mid-March, but the Federation Council – the upper house of the Russian parliament – isn’t expected to announce the exact date of the vote until December.
Putin has been elected president four times, holding the post between 2000 and 2008 and since 2012. He is eligible to run for two more terms in 2024 and 2030, due to amendments introduced to the Russian constitution following a referendum in 2020.
In early October, the head of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, proposed skipping next year’s presidential elections due to the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev. The Chechen leader praised Putin’s leadership and called him the only person “able to defend our country today.”
The Kremlin, however, said that the elections would be held according to the existing law. Peskov described Putin as the nation’s “leading politician,” adding that other candidates might struggle to successfully compete with him.
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