Putin: I Have a Moral Right to Continue Wielding Influence

Vladimir Putin yesterday gave his strongest hint yet that he intends to stay in power in Russia after his term as president expires in next year, declaring that he had a "moral right" to maintain influence.

Putin said that if, as expected, his United Russia party wins a landslide victory in next month's parliamentary elections this would give him a mandate to carry on as the country's de facto leader.

He refused to explain how he intends to maintain his grip on power, merely saying that there were "various possibilities". Under Russia's constitution Putin, who was elected in 2000, is obliged to step down in May after two consecutive presidential terms.

But yesterday's remarks are the baldest affirmation yet that Putin has no real intention of resigning from politics. "If the people vote for United Russia, it means that a clear majority of the people put their trust in me and in turn that means I will have the moral right to hold those in the Duma and the cabinet responsible for the implementation of the tasks that have been set today," he said during a visit to the Siberian town of Krasnoyarsk.

"In what form I will do this, I cannot yet give a direct answer. But various possibilities exist," Putin said.

Last month Putin announced that he would put his name at the top of the federal list for the United Russia party. The move boosted the party's ratings from 47% to 56% and seems designed to ensure that he has a personal power base after leaving office.

Putin has hinted that he could continue to run the country as prime minister. Other possibilities include propelling the current incumbent, Viktor Zubkov, 66, into the president's job and Putin moving back into the post when Zubkov steps down for "health reasons".

Pro-Kremlin politicians have also suggested that Putin should become "father of the nation", though what this means in real terms is not clear. There is also speculation that Putin will become chairman of the 2014 organizing committee preparing Russia's Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"I think this statement is more or less an attempt to give a vague, but nonetheless clear-cut, message that he is going to remain somehow important," Grigorii Golosov, a professor in the political sciences and sociology faculty at St Petersburg's European University, said.

"He will assert a decisive impact on what any presidential successor will do in power. It will create a really complex situation."