Putin to run for Russian presidency in 2012 - Yahoo! News
Basically, this is what happened:
Putin served two terms: 2000-2008, then put Medvedev in place, had him amend the constitution so that one term is 6 yrs instead of 4, and now he will be getting back to his presidential office. Many people thought, while Putin was the president, he would amend the consitution himself and remove presidential term limits (how many times same person in a row can be president) so he would just stay at power, however he perhaps did not do it for image sake, otherwise it would really look like a dictatorship. As for changing the number of yrs one could serve-they just said that it makes more sense, you get more time to get your things done, and people didn't have a problem with that. Even though Putin was always the real power even at number two, many people speculated whether he would run again. Running in this case means winning, as there will be no other serious competition.
What does it mean for U.S.?
Does it mean anything? lol
Personal input:
Putin is not a dictator, but he does have a strong grip. In Russia there is no other way though, otherwise it would be chaos. in 1990s, after the fall of USSR, Russia was pretty free, but look what happened-oligarch thieves stole almost all of the of nation's money and left the country, street crime and organized crime went though the roof, streets were like a war zone with mob hits every day and everywhere, who were trying to divide the new Westernized business territory, and all the regional politicians kept stealing the allocated money. "Managed Democracy" is the only form of rule that can work for them today, too much lawlessness and corruption to give full freedoms. Russian people understand this, that is why they support Putin, even though he limits their freedom somewhat, it is necessarily for now. You would have to live there to understand. ( I am Russian living in US, lived there during Putin's first term)
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