Putin to run again

NIZHNY NOVGOROD (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that he will seek reelection in March 2018, a contest polls show he will win comfortably, setting the stage for an extension of his dominance of Russia’s political landscape into a third decade.

Putin, 65, has been in power either as president or prime minister since 2000. If he wins, he would be eligible to serve until 2024.

“I will put forward my candidacy for the post of president of the Russian Federation,” Putin said at a car factory in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod. “There’s no better place or opportunity to put my candidacy forward. I’m sure that everything will work out for us.”

Putin is lauded by allies as a father-of-the-nation figure who has restored national pride and expanded Moscow’s global clout with interventions in Syria and Ukraine. His critics accuse him of overseeing a corrupt authoritarian system and of illegally annexing Ukraine’s Crimea, a move that has isolated Russia.

The challenge for Putin does not come from other candidates – nobody looks capable of unseating him. Instead, his toughest task will be to mobilize an electorate showing signs of apathy in order to ensure a high turnout which in the tightly controlled limits of the Russian political system is seen to confer legitimacy.

There is no obvious successor., which has led many investors to say is becoming the biggest political risk.

If reelected, Putin will have to choose whether to leave Dmitry Medvedev behind as prime minister or appoint someone else. That will trigger a round of intrigue over the succession, as the prime minister is often viewed as the president’s heir apparent.