MOSCOW, January 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Flamboyant leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) Vladimir Zhirinovsky said on Monday Prime Minister Vladimir Putin refused to join the presidential debates as he is no orator.
“He is no orator. He is not a public personality by nature,” he told a press conference adding “a candidate who escapes debates loses in every country.”
Zhirinovsky, who like Putin plans to run for presidency in the March election, said he has “cool working relations” with the prime minister. “We differ 90 percent in most issues. I irritate him. He prefers quiet officials, while the country needs a bark - Keep silent, stand up,” Zhirinovsky said.
He believes the presidential election will have two rounds and even suggested to fix the necessity of the two rounds by law.
“That will break the monopoly on power,” Zhirinovsky suggested saying no candidate can win in the first round of a “fair election”.
He also suggested amending the constitution and reducing the allowed presidential term of office from current two six-year terms to one five-year term. Another initiative was to switch to the parliamentary republic and elect the president in parliament.
Zhirinovsky also proposed to rename the president into the supreme ruler as “we do not need foreign words.”