"The situation in the world is known as very, very turbulent, if not to say extremely turbulent. Many countries in the world, but especially our country, of course, are in a very, very unstable situation all around. Therefore, so to speak, in such difficult times, some countries decided on the possibility for the incumbent president to remain in their own path… in these difficult times, stability, firmness and consistency of power having an enormous meaning. This is what guided [State Duma Member Valentina] Tereshkova [who proposed to nullify Putin’s terms] when she gave her speech… that was her argument with which Putin agreed", Peskov told reporters.
To a clarifying question of whether this means that Putin changed his stance on the number of presidential terms due to the situation in the world and around Russia, Peskov answered in the affirmative.
He added that "the situation of the whole world has become less stable" compared to the period when Putin became assumed the presidency.
"The norm on limiting the terms will remain in the constitution, it will not be abandoned, and this withdrawal for the incumbent president is a one-time measure. It is related only to the incumbent president in connection with the amendment package, which we are now studying, and, most importantly, it is related to the existing situation. This was the essence of Tereshkova's initiative", Peskov told reporters.
Peskov stressed that Tereshkova's initiative had come as a surprise to the Kremlin.
"This was her initiative. There were many new initiatives, and we were learning this with everyone, on-line", Peskov said, when asked whether the amendment was unexpected for the Kremlin.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov continued on by saying that Russia’s Central Election Commission is going ahead with preparations for the 22 April citizens’ vote on constitutional amendments with no discussions on changing the date due to coronavirus fears underway.
"I can only say that now, at present, there are no indications in this regard, there are no recommendations in this regard, there are no discussions in this regard, and there are no decisions in this regard either", Peskov said, answering a reporter’s question about the possibility of changing the voting date in connection with the worldwide coronavirus pandemic.
Peskov also said that the final decision on changing the date will be left to the coronavirus response centre headed by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova.
Putin’s term runs out in 2024. He proposed sweeping changes to the national constitution in a televised address in January that includes limiting the president’s powers and bolstering those of the parliament.
