Since he was elected president for the fourth time in 2018, Moscow’s political insiders have gossiped about who Vladimir Putin would choose to succeed him to run Russia. On Wednesday, he definitively answered that question: he chose himself.
In the biggest overhaul of Russian politics for decades, Putin surprised the country’s establishment with his timing, if not the ultimate outcome. He announced that he would seek to rewrite the constitution to beef up the power of parliament and reduce the clout of the presidency, in effect neutering his direct successor and opening up an easy route to maintain his grip on the country.
