date_range
Sunday 22 Dec 2024
LOCAL EDITION
close
LOCAL EDITION
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 25, 2023. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will run in the 2024 presidential election set to be held in March.
Putin said that he will run for a fifth term in office during a conversation with participants following an award ceremony held in the Kremlin on the occasion of the country’s Heroes of the Fatherland Day, according to state news agency TASS.
Earlier on Friday, Russia's Central Election Commission officially approved that the voting for the presidential elections will take place between March 15 and 17.
On Thursday, Russia's Federation Council passed a resolution scheduling the country's next presidential election for March 17, 2024.
Putin in control
Putin still commands wide support after nearly a quarter-century in power, despite starting an offensive against Ukraine in February of 2022.
A short-lived rebellion in June by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin raised widespread speculation that Putin could be losing his grip, but he emerged with no permanent scars.
Putin announced his decision to run in the March 17 presidential election after a Kremlin award ceremony, when war veterans and others pleaded with him to seek re-election.
"I won't hide it from you — I had various thoughts about it over time, but now, you're right, it's necessary to make a decision," Putin said in a video released by the Kremlin after the event. "I will run for president of the Russian Federation."
Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center noted that the announcement was made in a low-key way instead of a live televised speech, probably reflecting the Kremlin's spin effort to emphasise Putin's modesty and his perceived focus on doing his job as opposed to loud campaigning.
___
Source: TRT
