Select font Arial Times New Roman
Character spacing (Kerning): Standard Medium Large
Transcripts /
Question about extending the President’s term of office.
Vladimir Putin: I have already expressed my views regarding extending the President’s term of office, and you know them. I am against this idea, but I understand why people propose it. It seems to me that they hope that this will bring greater stability to the country’s development and create conditions that will enable people to feel the effects of this stability and stable development in the main areas for which the head of state formulates policies that I think the majority of our people support.
But there is one circumstance that makes it impossible to support this initiative, and that such an attempt to achieve stability would actually destabilise the very foundation of our statehood, namely, the Constitution. It is the Constitution that guarantees our country’s stable development.
I think that we should do everything possible to ensure the inviolability of our Constitution in order to allow our country to develop following the provisions of the Constitution adopted several years ago. These provisions sufficiently formulate our main development policies, and also ensure that the promises the authorities at the highest level make to the voters are fulfilled.
Thank you.
February 5, 2004, Cheboksary