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'Reporting Among Gangsters' - Op-Ed in 'The Washington Post'

RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin examines threats to independent media in Central Asia. More

By Country / Russia

Russia's 2008 Presidential Poll Rescheduled

December 15, 2006

Election commission head Veshnyakov (right) with President Putin (file photo) (CTK)

December 15, 2006 -- Russia's next presidential election will be held on March 2, 2008.

On December 14, Central Electoral Commission Chairman Aleksandr Veshnyakov said the election would take place on March 9. But today the commission said that since March 9 is the day after a public holiday (International Women's Day), Russian election law mandates that the date be moved to the previous Sunday, March 2.

(Interfax, Reuters)

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Russia Beyond 2008

President Putin is mulling his political future (epa)

THE 2008 QUESTION: President Vladimir Putin's second term of office ends in the spring of 2008. Since the Russian Constitution bars him from seeking a third consecutive term, this event threatens to present a crisis in a country that has a history of managed power transitions. Already, Russian politics are dominated by the ominous 2008 question.
RFE/RL's Washington office hosted a briefing to discuss the prospects of Putin seeking a third term. The featured speakers were RFE/RL Communications Director Don Jensen and political scientist Peter Reddaway of George Washington University.