Russia's president should be allowed to serve three consecutive terms instead of the two permitted now, the speaker of parliament's upper house said today.
The constitution requires President Vladimir Putin to stand down next March at the end of his second-four year term. He has said repeatedly he will not tinker with the constitution to extend his time in office.
But many others are clamouring for the president, who is popular and seen as a guarantor of stability, to stay on.
"I propose three terms," said Sergei Mironov, who was elected today for a third term as speaker of the Federation Council upper house. Mr Mironov has already called several times for a change in the constitution to allow presidents to stay in office longer.
"The need has arisen, in response to numerous petitions from our citizens, to change the rules that say the same person cannot serve more than two terms in a row," he said in televised comments.
Mr Mironov, a staunch Putin ally, also proposed extended the length of each presidential term from four to five, or even seven years.
"Four year terms for Russia is too little, it's too short to make any changes," he said.
Boris Gryzlov, the speaker of the lower house of parliament and also a Putin loyalist, said today he did not support Mr Mironov's proposal. Russia can change its constitution either by holding a nationwide referendum or passing a motion by a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament.
The Central Election Commission has already said there is not enough time to hold a referendum before the presidential election next March.