Putin to be sworn in as Russian president for 5th term

By Ali Cura

MOSCOW (AA) - Vladimir Putin will be sworn in as Russia’s president for a fifth term at an inauguration ceremony that will be held in the capital Moscow on Tuesday.

The ceremony, scheduled to take place in the Kremlin, will officially mark the start of another six-year term in office for Putin, who won 87.28% of the vote during the presidential election held in March.

Following the inauguration ceremony, the current Russian government will resign and a new government will take office with the approval of the country's parliament, in accordance with the constitutional amendment made in 2020.

In this regard, Putin will present his candidate for prime minister to the Russian State Duma, the country's lower house of parliament, for approval.

While the parliament has the power to accept or reject the candidate, Putin will be able to directly appoint the prime minister without a need for parliamentary approval should lawmakers reject the candidate three times.

In such a case, Putin will also have the right to dissolve the parliament and hold new parliamentary elections.

According to local media, incumbent Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin is likely to be appointed again as he is widely seen as a as a successful head of government based on the country's growing economy despite the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and subsequent economic sanctions by the West.

Putin will directly appoint the country's foreign, defense, justice, emergency situations, and interior ministers in consultation with the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament.

It is said that current Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu will retain their posts, while changes are also not expected in ministries related to economy and finance.

However, due to public criticism of education, sports and cultural policies, there could be some changes in the relevant ministries and there is also the possibility of creating a Youth Ministry.

Based on Russian law, the approval process of the new government can take until May 20 at most, though it is anticipated that the list of candidates for the prime minister and the council of ministers will be presented to the parliament immediately after the inauguration ceremony.

* Writing by Burc Eruygur in Istanbul