Russia constitution reform would be very bad: Rice

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Washington, July 7: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today it would be ''very bad'' if Russia were to amend its constitution, which requires President Vladimir Putin to step down after two consecutive four-year terms.

In an exclusive interview with Maria Bartiromo on CNBC's ''Closing Bell'' program taped today morning, Rice also said that she hoped Russia would commit to allowing free and fair parliamentary and presidential elections.

''I take President Putin at his word that he will allow the constitutional transfer to take place, that (he) doesn't have any intention of changing the Russian constitution,'' Rice said according to a transcript released by CNBC. ''It would be very bad for Russia if there was some change in the constitution.'' ''The election should be free and fair, and free and fair elections don't start on the day of an election they start with access to the media, they start with the ability of people to assemble and assemble freely,'' she added. ''I would hope that Russia would commit to making sure that the elections and the run-up to the elections are really free and fair.'' The United States has long expressed concerns about the course of democracy in Russia under Putin's rule, including the dominance of state-controlled media and the harassment of opposition parties.

Russia holds parliamentary elections in December and presidential elections in March. Putin is scheduled to step down next year and analysts view deputy prime ministers Sergei Ivanov and Dmitry Medvedev as his most likely successors.

Despite pressure from allies, Putin has rejected the idea of redrawing the constitution to allow him a third consecutive four-year term, although he has spoken in favor of increasing tenure lengths to five or seven years for future leaders.

Reuters>

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