RUSSIA POLL: PUTIN TO COMMENT ON 2024 ELECTION BID BY YEAR END

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Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, stated on Tuesday that he will only make a decision regarding his bid for reelection in 2024 following the official announcement of the election later this year.

Since the turn of the century, Putin has been in charge of Russia, winning four presidential elections and temporarily holding the office of prime minister in a setting where political opposition is now essentially nonexistent.

“According to the law, parliament must make a decision at the end of the year,” Putin told the audience at the Eastern Economic Forum in the Pacific port of Vladivostok.

“When the elections are announced, when the date is set, then we will talk about it,” he added.

After the term limit was increased from four years to six years, presidential elections in Russia are now scheduled by the parliament and are held every six years.

If no contender receives more than 50% of the vote, they could move on to a second round, but in actuality, this has never happened because Putin always wins by substantial margins.

According to rights organisations, Putin and the ruling party essentially get a rubber stamp during national elections in Russia.

Numerous well-known Russian dissidents have either left the country or been imprisoned, including Alexei Navalny, the leader of the opposition, who is currently incarcerated on a number of charges.

On the basis of additional extremist allegations, Navalny was given a 19-year prison term in August.

This Monday, Dmitry Peskov, a representative for Putin, told reporters that the president is not currently up against any rivals.

“It is obvious, perhaps, that no one can really compete with him in our country at the current stage,” he said.

AFP