He says Putin's current presidential term will not be his last one. In 2012, he will be able to run for a third term. Prior to that, from 2008 to 2012, he will have the opportunity to take up one of the three highest state offices: the prime minister, the chairman of the Federation Council or the chairman of the State Duma.
Mironov believes Putin would make an ideal premier, as he has already held the post. "However, I am against any changes to the state system and am against a parliamentary republic," the speaker said. "A presidential republic is what Russia needs and will need for long decades, if not centuries."
As a professional parliamentarian, Mironov sees the purely theoretical advantages of a parliamentarian republic where a popularly elected parliament has genuine power. However, he believes this is not suitable for today's Russia.
In any case, Mironov believes whoever the next president may be, Putin will still have higher ratings. The Federation Council speaker does not see anything significant in the recent decline of the Russian leader's popularity rating. "These ratings can be artificially inflated or deflated and everyone knows this," he said.
Mironov declined to name Putin's potential successors. However, he said that there were such figures. According to him, they are all part of the president's team and hold different posts (not necessarily senior positions). Nevertheless, all of them are public politicians or the heads of departments, organizations or regions.
