Putin's Future
Officially Putin is now embarking on his last term as president.
Powerful forces could get out of control unless Putin comes up with a succession plan or a new political system that allows him to remain as supreme leader supervising an elected president.
Last Sunday a new step was taken toward making Putin’s rule one of the longest in Russia’s history.
He's already surpassed Leonid Brezhnev, the Communist Party boss who ruled for 18 years between 1964 and 1982.
Russia’s rulers who served longer terms were the Empress Catherine (33 years) a handful of tsars and Joseph Stalin, whose exact term is hard to define but who was at the helm of the Soviet Union for at least 25 years.
The paradox here is that all Russian leaders have aspired to be masters of time, mostly by foot-dragging, while no Russian reign has ever had defined terms.
Very few Russian leaders have had any control over the end of their rule.
Their days in power have been limited only by death or by their inner circle’s desire to replace them.
[ Source: The Moscow Times > Maxim Trudolyubov has been a contributing opinion writer for The International New York Times since 2013. ]
Powerful forces could get out of control unless Putin comes up with a succession plan or a new political system that allows him to remain as supreme leader supervising an elected president.
Last Sunday a new step was taken toward making Putin’s rule one of the longest in Russia’s history.
He's already surpassed Leonid Brezhnev, the Communist Party boss who ruled for 18 years between 1964 and 1982.
Russia’s rulers who served longer terms were the Empress Catherine (33 years) a handful of tsars and Joseph Stalin, whose exact term is hard to define but who was at the helm of the Soviet Union for at least 25 years.
The paradox here is that all Russian leaders have aspired to be masters of time, mostly by foot-dragging, while no Russian reign has ever had defined terms.
Very few Russian leaders have had any control over the end of their rule.
Their days in power have been limited only by death or by their inner circle’s desire to replace them.
[ Source: The Moscow Times > Maxim Trudolyubov has been a contributing opinion writer for The International New York Times since 2013. ]
