Zen-Haven.dk: Could Putin Be in Power until 2024?

More than 100 million Russians will go to the polls on Sunday to elect a president who will be in office for the next six years. Most polls indicate it will be an outright victory for Vladimir Putin, the current prime minister and former president who has made a deal with his ally Dmitry Medvedev, the former president and current prime minister. Despite initial public outrage over their job swap, Putin is consistently polling at around 50 percent, well ahead of the fragmented opposition, and even if voters do not endorse Putin, his victory is likely to be assured with the help of regional officials loyal to his United Russia party. Putin would remain in charge until 2018, or 2024, if he won a second term. By then, Putin would have chalked up 24 years in power out of the 33 years since the collapse of Communism, thanks to his previous terms as president and prime minister. If the outcome is such a certainty, why should the US and other Western countries care? Experts agree the US will find Russia harder to deal with on Putin's return. On Wednesday, British think tank Chatham House warned that Russia's stability is at an increased risk, due to Putin's determination to stay in power. The overriding objective of Vladimir Putin and his team is to preserve the narrow and personalized ruling system that they have built over the past 12 years, it said in a report. Real change, involving accountability and devolution of power, would disrupt the system!