“Any legislative initiative can be considered by deputies, but we are not going to support this proposal,” Gryzlov said.

For his part, Pavel Krasheninnikov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Civil, Criminal, Arbitration and Procedural Legislation, said that the committee would recommend that the Duma reject amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation regarding the extension of the Russian President’s term of office from four years to seven years.

The Legislative Assembly of the Ivanovo region submitted proposed amendments to the Russian Constitution, suggesting that the President should be elected for 7 years. In an explanatory note, the members of the Legislative Assembly said their proposal was motivated by “the desire of the deputies of the Legislative Assembly, representing the people of the Ivanovo region, to improve the administrative system of Russia”.

In their view, the extension of the presidential term to 7 years will help stabilize the political and economic situation in the country. The deputies of the Legislative Assembly believe that a president elected for 7 years will have better opportunities to implement the plans and programs presented to voters during his election campaign.

However, Mr. Gryzlov’s statement means that this initiative is doomed to fail, as United Russia has a majority in the Duma and therefore the presidential term of office will remain unchanged.