Putin seeks new term
RUSSIA: Vladimir Putin has announced that he will run for reelection as president of Russia in March.
After months of public speculation, Putin made the announcement while speaking to workers at the 85th anniversary of the Gorky automobile plant (GAZ) in Nizhny Novgorod, a Soviet-era powerhouse that has been revived through orders from Western carmakers.
He is almost certain to win another six-year term. By the end of it, he will have been in power for more than 24 years, including a stint as prime minister that allowed him to skirt the limit of two consecutive terms.
‘‘You were asked whether you would put your candidacy forward, and you said you would if the people support you. All of us in this hall support you without exception,’’ a GAZ employee told Putin to the applause of his co-workers.
‘‘There is probably no better place and reason for this,’’ Putin said. ‘‘Thank you for your support, I will put my candidacy forward for the presidency of the Russian Federation.’’
State television immediately began devoting its evening news programmes to the announcement, which it dubbed a ‘‘historic event’’. The ruling United Russia party announced it would back Putin.
Putin had long been expected to run, and is almost certain to win, given his approval ratings, which have remained above 80 per cent since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
At 65, Putin has already reached the Russian retirement age, and he has run the country for 18 years, surpassed only by Josef Stalin.
The ageing leaders of two Kremlin-loyal parties, who avoided criticising Putin during previous elections, have also announced their candidacies, as has Ksenia Sobchak, a controversial socialite nicknamed the ‘‘Russian Paris Hilton’’.
– Telegraph Group