10/03/2026
Russia politics as most African politics
This is Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia. He has dominated Russian politics for 26 years.
Putin is the definition of “started from the bottom, now we are here.”
He started his career as a KGB agent. The KGB was like the FBI and CIA combined. It was the main intelligence and security agency of the SOVIET UNION, dealing with both domestic and foreign issues.
The Soviet Union was a union of 15 republics, namely;
■ Russia
■ Ukraine
■ Belarus
■ Uzbekistan
■ Kazakhstan
■ Kyrgyzstan
■ Tajikistan
■ Turkmenistan
■ Azerbaijan
■ Georgia
■ Lithuania
■ Moldova
■ Latvia
■ Armenia
■ Estonia
All these republics were part of one large country called the Soviet Union. It was MASSIVE and became America’s biggest rival after World War 2. This rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union became known as the Cold War.
America promoted CAPITALISM , while the Soviet Union promoted COMMUNISM. But that is a subject for another day.
Vladimir Putin joined the KGB in 1975, after finishing law school. He was only 23 years old. He served in the KGB for about 16 years.
In 1991, shortly before the Soviet Union officially collapsed, Putin left the KGB.
The Soviet Union formally ended on 26 December, 1991. After that, the republics that had been part of the Soviet Union became independent countries.
Putin then entered public administration in his hometown of Leningrad, which is now called Saint Petersburg. He became an adviser to the mayor and later rose to the position of Deputy Mayor.
In 1996, Putin moved to Moscow and got a job in the presidential administration. His job involved managing government property. At the time, the president of Russia was Boris Yeltsin.
Working in the presidential administration brought Putin closer to the center of power, where senior officials around the president could notice his work.
His skills were quickly recognized. Putin was appointed Deputy CHIEF OF STAFF to the President.
A Chief of Staff manages the president’s office. When I say the president’s office, I do not mean the physical room where the president works. I mean the team of aides and officials who support the president.
The Chief of Staff coordinates this staff and controls the president’s schedule, often deciding who gets access to the president and which issues reach the president first. It is therefore a very influential position.
As Deputy Chief of Staff, Putin was now inside the president’s inner circle. His work became visible directly to President Yeltsin.
In 1998, Putin was appointed Director of the FSB, Russia’s main intelligence agency and the successor to the KGB. He was also appointed Secretary of the Security Council.
These positions gave Putin access to key security and political networks across the government, which became an important step in his rise.
In August 1999, President Boris Yeltsin appointed Putin as Prime Minister. Russian prime ministers have limited authority. The president runs the show.
On December 31, 1999, President Yeltsin resigned. Putin automatically became Acting President.
Three months later, Putin won the 2000 presidential election and became president.
He was re-elected in 2004 for another four-year term, serving until 2008.
At the time, the Russian constitution said that presidents could NOT do more than two consecutive terms. I must emphasize that presidents were allowed to serve more than two terms, but NOT two terms in a row.
By 2008, Putin had already served two consecutive terms, so he could not run again.
To remain influential, Putin supported his close ally Dmitry Medvedev, who ran for president in 2008 and won. Medvedev then appointed Putin as Prime Minister. During this time, Putin was the one truly in charge even though he was no-longer president. He continued to influence things. Infact, when Medvedev was still president, the constitution was changed so that future presidential terms would last six years instead of four.
In 2012, after the end of his term, Medvedev stepped aside inorder for Putin to run again for president. Putin ran and won, beginning a six-year term from 2012 to 2018. He was re-elected in 2018 for another six-year term that would end in 2024.
However, having done two consecutive terms, Putin was not eligible to run again in 2024. In order to get around this complication, his government brought a new amendment that said a president could now only do a maximum of two terms only. However here is THE CATCH. They said that this change did not apply to anyone who had previously served as president. This meant that Putin's earlier terms were no longer counted under the new constitutional rules, allowing him to run for two more six-year terms.
The amendments were approved by parliament and later confirmed in a national vote (referendum)
This allowed Putin to run again in 2024 for another six-year term, which runs until 2030.
If he chooses, he can run again in 2030, which would allow him to remain president until 2036.
By 2036, Vladimir Putin would be 83 years old. Given the constitutional changes that have already taken place, it is possible that the rules could be amended again in the future. If that were to happen, it could potentially allow him to remain in power beyond the current term limits, or possibly make himself life president
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Source:TAFFY THEMAN
