| JRL HOME | SUPPORT | SUBSCRIBE | RESEARCH & ANALYTICAL SUPPLEMENT | |
Old Saint Basil's Cathedral in MoscowJohnson's Russia List title and scenes of Saint Petersburg
Excerpts from the JRL E-Mail Community :: Founded and Edited by David Johnson

#21 - JRL 2007-23 - JRL Home
Russian constitutional court head against extending presidential term
Interfax

Moscow, 31 January: Chairman of the [Russian] Constitutional Court Valeriy Zorkin does not support the idea of Deputy Justice Minister Vladimir Kolesnikov to make amendments to the Russian constitution to extend the presidential term.

"I think that nothing should be changed until it is has to be changed. As soon as you touch one thing, all the rest will fall to pieces. One has to learn to live under the current constitution," Zorkin has told Interfax.

He cited the example of the USA as a country that "made few changes over 200-odd years". "Is it a good country or bad? Like it or not, it is a strong country," Zorkin said.

"The constitution of the transitional period has accomplished its historic mission, and a new constitution is to be adopted soon," Vladimir Kolesnikov told a session of the Association of Lawyers of Russia on legislation in defence, security and law enforcement held at the Federation Council.

Kolesnikov believes that any amendments should relate to extending the presidential term. "Is a four-year term enough for a president of such a huge country? He doesn't even have enough time to get round the whole country," Kolesnikov said.

"Even in France, a country with a well-developed democracy, the president is elected once in seven years", he added.