UPDATES WITH LATEST STATEMENT BY KREMLIN ON RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN'S CANDIDACY
By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Russian lawmakers on Thursday passed a resolution scheduling the country’s next presidential election for March 17, 2024.
All 162 senators in attendance in the 178-member Federation Council, the upper chamber of parliament, voted for the resolution in the capital Moscow.
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s leader since 1999, as either president or prime minister, has not announced his intention to seek another term, but he is expected to.
Under constitutional reforms passed in 2020, Putin, 71, is eligible to serve two more six-year terms, meaning he could stay in office until 2036.
Despite Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, now 2 1/2 months shy of its second anniversary, if Putin seeks another term as president, he is heavily favored to win.
Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called for "patience" concerning Putin's intention to run in the election.