Putin won't bid for a third term

SHANGHAI: Russian president Vladimir Putin will not run for the third term of presidency, despite being “aware” of the results of public opinion polls that want him back in the top job.

“I am aware of the results of public opinion polls in which Russian citizens would support my candidature for the third presidential term.

I am very grateful to all people who believe that I have the right to remain at the helm of the country,” he told journalists during an informal gathering after a summit of the Shanghai cooperation organisation.

“However, I believe that this decision would undermine my internal confidence in the justice of what I am doing, as you cannot demand from other people to observe the law that you violate yourself,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Putin acknowledged that one of the two main candidates now, Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev, will not necessarily become his successor.

“The choice made by the president does not guarantee his victory at the elections,” he remarked. When asked if his successor may be possibly selected from those who are not included in the list of main hopefuls, Putin said, “yes, it is possible, as the list is not big.”

When scribes suggested the new president maybe an unknown person, he shot back, “he can hardly be an absolutely unknown person, such people are known to everybody, but their names are just not publicised.”