Russia passes bill allowing Putin to run again for president in 2024

The Russian parliament approved Constitutional amendments on Tuesday that would allow President Vladimir Putin to seek reelection in 2024 by restarting the term count.

During his televised speech in the parliament's lower house, or the State Duma, Putin expressed his support for the amendments, including the change that would reset the clock on his presidential term count in an updated version of the Constitution.

The amendment was moved by Valentina Tereshkova, a former cosmonaut and the first woman to fly to space in 1963. She is now a lawmaker from the ruling party United Russia.

She suggested the Russian Constitution be amended to either remove the two-term limit or at least reset Putin's current term count to zero.

Under current Russian law, Putin needs to step down as president in 2024, when his second consecutive term in office comes to an end.

According to the Russian media, Tereshkova added her proposal to a package of other Constitutional amendments 20 minutes before lawmakers voted on the second reading of the Constitutional reforms.

United Russia said it supported the proposal. Shortly after, Putin appeared in the parliament and delivered a speech.

Putin told lawmakers that he could not support the suggestion to remove term limits from the Russia's Constitution, noting the importance that society has a "guarantee" that power can be changed.

But he then said that he backed the idea that would allow him to run again for office.

"In principle, this option would be possible, but on one condition－that the Constitutional Court gives an official ruling that such an amendment would not contradict the principles and main provisions of the Constitution," Putin said.

He said that former US president Franklin Roosevelt serving four terms because of the upheaval his country was going through at the time was an example of why presidential term limits were sometimes "superfluous".

And he said: "In conditions when a country is experiencing such shocks and difficulties, of course ... stability is perhaps more important and must be a priority," adding that Russia was still recovering from the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

The State Duma then voted to pass the Constitutional amendment bill, which also includes broadening the powers of parliament and limiting the number of lifetime presidential terms for one person, with no opposition.

The changes will now be put to the Russian people along with the other constitutional amendments in a referendum on April 22.

China said on Wednesday that it believes that Russia will maintain social stability and economic development under the Constitutional amendments.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said China will continue to respect and support Russia for the development path that fits the country's situation, as well as the governance pattern that is chosen by the Russian people.

And China will continue to join hands with Russia to implement core agreements achieved by the two leaders, and to deepen the Sino-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era, Geng said.

Valentina Matvienko, speaker of Russia's Federal Assembly, said the proposal would "calm everyone" and put a stop to discussions around "who would be the successor".

But she insisted that it was still too early to say if Putin would run again in 2024, saying she was sure the elections would be "competitive".