Russian lawmaker suggests scrapping presidential term limits

Valentina Tereshkova, first woman to have flown in and a lawmaker with Russia's ruling party, proposed Tuesday to scrap presidential term limits in order to allow Russia President Vlimir Putin to run for re-election in 2024. move prompted Putin to rush to parliament, where he is expected to weigh in on proposal.

Tereshkova came forward with idea at a parliamentary session, during second reing of constitutional amendments Putin introduced to parliament in January.

sweeping reform is widely seen as part of an effort by Putin, who has to step down in 2024 after having served two consecutive terms that country's constitution currently allows, to stay in power.

“ very existence of an opportunity for current president (to get re-elected), given his major gravitas, would be a stabilizing factor for our society,” Tereshkova told Kremlin-controlled State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, on Tuesday.

Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin anunced a 90-minute break in session to ponder proposal and said Putin will come to Duma himself to weigh in on proposal.

“ amendment Tereshkova has come forward with requires consulting with current president,” Volodin said.

Tereshkova's proposal contricts what Putin said earlier about possibility of a remaining president — he rejected idea of scrapping term limits just last week, saying it's important to guarantee government rotation in Russia in future.

“Why don't I want to scrap limits? It's t that I fear myself: I'm t going to lose my mind, it's t about me,” Putin said Friday during a meeting with workers and activists in Ivavo, a city rast of Moscow famous for its textile industries.

“Stability, calm development of country may be more important w, but later when country becomes more confident and gets richer it will definitely be necessary to ensure government rotation."