Vladimir Putin will be eternal

Vladimir Putin will be currently in power forever. He made clear his two goals in his Wednesday annual speech: first, which Russia will surely say farewell as president after 2017. And secondly, he will return as prime minister. But that's not all, because Putin will return to be president.

No one really expected Putin to withdraw in 2024, but few had predicted the overthrow of Russia's political system.

The Russian president proposed a sweeping constitutional reform that would give him the opportunity to retain power after 2024, when his mandate ends. His plans led to the resignation of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's government, indicating that a complete restoration of the system of government is taking place in Russia. After the mandate ends, Putin plans to return as prime minister, while Medvedev will head the security council.

Most of Putin's proposals are expected to completely change Russia's political system, whose current constitution gives nearly dictatorial power to the president. Under his plans, Russia will have a less powerful presidency and an all-powerful prime minister.

“He is the founder of this system, so he certainly wants to retain control,” says Russian analyst Alexey Makarkin.

These reforms will likely end with him as prime minister or as head of an all-powerful State Council”, he says, stressing that Putin's plans are to weaken the power of his potential successor as president.

This successor is unlikely to be Mikhail Misustin, the official Putin elected as Russia's new prime minister, who is expected to lead the government while Putin makes his plans real.

Putin has a strong reason to plan four years before this transition. The 2012 protests, still the biggest that Putin has faced, were prompted by parliamentary elections. Citizens rose after Putin had announced his plans to return to the presidency, sparking concern among opponents that Putin's decades of power could extend a full “ ”.

But what does he propose?

First, Putin suggested that only people who have lived in Russia for more than 25 years and have never possessed a foreign passport or permanent permission to stay in the West should be allowed to run for president. The current version of the constitution says a second citizenship in no way limits the rights of a Russian citizen to hold political office?

Putin's proposals would exclude a large number of wealthy and educated Russians. According to flawed official statistics, 5434,000 Russians have a second citizenship or a foreign residence permit.

According to Russian leaders, public officials such as prime minister, ministers, governors and judges should be banned from maintaining dual citizenship and permission to stay in other countries. He also wants Russian laws to take priority over international conventions, treaties and judicial decisions.

Today, the constitution declares the priority of international obligations by determining the implementation of European Court and Human Rights decisions and a host of other organisations. Putin wants to make it impossible for no foreign actor like international courts, Russian immigrants, foreign governments, Western educational institutions to have any effect on Russia's internal work.

Today, it is up to the president to elect the prime minister (low parliament room only “adopt” decision) and appoint cabinet members. But Putin proposed that the prime minister's approval be made by Russian Duma, while cabinet ministers would be elected by the prime minister rather than the president. The latter would be obliged to accept parliament's decisions.

But Putin's plans are not over. After he returns as president after closing his mandate as prime minister. The Russian Constitution does not allow a president to hold mandates, but Putin plans to add “successive” to this word. This would allow him to regain his presidency in the 2030 elections when you turned 78.