Putin backs term limit freeze allowing him to stay in office

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed his tightly guarded political plans Tuesday and supported a constitutional amendment that would allow him to seek reelection in 2024 by restarting the term count.

The constitutional change would pave the way for the 67-year-old Putin to stay in office until 2036, if he desires.

A lawmaker who is revered in Russia as the first woman to fly in space proposed either scrapping Russia’s two-term limit for presidents or stopping the clock so the law wouldn’t apply to Putin’s time in office.

The Russian leader and the lower house of parliament quickly endorsed the proposal put forward by former Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, 83. Kremlin critics denounced the move as cynical manipulation and called for protests.

In a speech to lawmakers, Putin opposed doing away with the term limit but backed stopping the count and restarting it in 2024, if the Russian Constitution is revised. Putin’s second consecutive sixyear term ends in 2024.

A nationwide vote on the amendments is scheduled for next month.

Putin has been in power for more than 20 years, and he is Russia’s longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. After serving two presidential terms in 2000-2008, he shifted to the Russian prime minister’s office while protégé Dmitry Medvedev served as a placeholder president.

After the length of a presidential term was extended to six years under Medvedev, Putin reclaimed the presidency in 2012 and won another term in 2018.