MOSCOW, December 12 (RIA Novosti) - Russia marks the 14th anniversary of its Constitution on Wednesday, unamended since its original adoption in 1993.

One of, if not the, most-hotly debated articles in the Constitution has been article 81, which states that that one and the same person may not be elected President of the Russian Federation for more than two terms running.

The first president of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, and his successor, Vladimir Putin, refused to amend the article in 1996, 1999 and 2007, despite being urged to do so in order to seek a third term.

"Thank God, we have produced a tradition in Russia when the supreme leader of the state, the guarantor of the Constitution, has acted in the way that the Constitution dictates," said Valery Zorkin, at judge the Russian Constitutional Court.

Putin has also pledged not to change the Constitution to strengthen the position of prime minister, weakening the role of the country's president, a step many people expected him to take in order to remain in power after his second presidential term expires in 2008.

"If anyone thinks I am planning to make a move to the government and transfer fundamental powers there, this is not so. Russian presidential powers will not be reduced, as long as this is down to me," Putin said. "I am not going to adapt the Constitution to suit myself."

The Russian Constitution was adopted by a public referendum on December 12, 1993, with close to a 60% approval rate. It came into force on December 25, replacing the Soviet Brezhnev-era Constitution of 1978.

December 12 was last celebrated as a public holiday in Russia in 2005.

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