Chechnya parliament moves to give Putin third term

The parliament of Chechnya has asked the upper house of the Russian parliament to amend the country's Constitution to enable President Vladimir Putin to remain in office for a third term, a senior MP said Saturday.

GROZNY, July 29 (RIA Novosti) - The parliament of Chechnya has asked the upper house of the Russian parliament to amend the country's Constitution to enable President Vladimir Putin to remain in office for a third term, a senior MP said Saturday.

President Putin said in mid-July the Russian Constitution would not be amended to allow him to run for a third consecutive term. Under the Russian Constitution, a president can remain in office for two consecutive terms but is entitled to return to the post for a third time after an interval.

"The People's Assembly has passed a relevant resolution, and all members of the People's Assembly unanimously supported it," speaker Dukuvakha Abdurakhmanov said.

He said the idea was to enable Vladimir Putin to run for a third consecutive term in 2008, adding that Russia's incumbent president was necessary not only to the Chechen Republic but also to Russia as a whole.

Chechen MPs also appealed to other Federation constituents to support their proposal.