New Russian order: After presidency, yet another role for Putin?
For many years, the main slogan of anti-Kremlin opposition activists – often shouted as they were being dragged into police vans at street protests – has been “Russia Without Putin!”
As Vladimir Putin's fourth, and almost certainly final, six-year term as president heads into its second year, the prospect of a Russia without him is becoming real, if not yet urgent. The issue is no longer dominated by loud declarations in the streets, but by quiet conversations in the halls of power.
Inevitably, some are talking up schemes to keep Mr. Putin – and the relatively stable status quo he guarantees – in some position of having the final word on critical matters. Those are sure signs that a serious debate is beginning to erupt in Russia's political elite. Its outcome may change Russia's constitutional system, for better or worse, and determine what kind of country will emerge from the long period that people now call “the
A system dependent on PutinTo whom to pass the baton?Three optionsA matter of timing?
