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Russia's Putin rules out extending Kremlin term
MOSCOW, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin quashed speculation on Wednesday that he would seek to extend the presidential term of office from its present four years.
"The term of presidential powers will not be changed to suit the present president," Putin declared at a Kremlin ceremony marking Russia's Constitution Day holiday.
Speculation grew that Putin would act to get the four-year presidential term extended after the new speaker of Russia's Federation Council, parliament's upper house, announced last week he would back a constitutional change to prolong the current mandate.
Sergei Mironov, only recently elected to the Federation Council post with Putin's backing, argued that four years in office was too short a time for a president to have any real chance of tackling the large number of problems facing Russia.
Mironov said the Constitution could be amended and he added that the Federation Council might set such changes in motion.
Earlier media reports said the Kremlin wanted the presidential term to be prolonged from four to seven years.
Putin, 49, who was elected to office in May 2000, appeared however to set himself firmly against any such process, declaring on Wednesday : "The question of amendments, leading to a new constitution in principle, is not on the agenda."
The Constitution Day holiday was introduced by then president Boris Yeltsin in 1994 to mark a landmark constitutional referendum a year earlier.
The 70-year-old Yeltsin was one of the guests at the Kremlin ceremony on Wednesday which brought together top officials from political and civic life in Moscow and the provinces.
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