Why did President Putin suddenly want to run for office as an independent?

In a surprise move, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will run for re-election for a fourth term as an independent candidate, instead of representing the ruling United Russia party as in previous terms.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo: Reuters

According toReuters, at the year-end press conference on December 14, President Putin said he would run for re-election as an independent candidate. With this decision, Mr. Putin needs more than 300,000 signatures of support to participate in the race to the Kremlin in March 2018.

“I will run for office myself. I hope to receive support from mass movements, political parties and any organizations that share or support my views. I count on the broad support of the people,” President Putin said.

However, he did not give a specific reason for his decision to run for re-election as an independent, something he had never done in previous terms.

Observers have given two reasons for this unexpected decision by the Kremlin leader.

First, Mr. Putin seems to want to assert his role as a representative of the interests of the entire nation, instead of representing a political party. At a press conference on December 14, President Putin said that it was too early to announce a campaign platform, but he also emphasized the priorities in the new term if re-elected as promoting a high-tech economy, improving infrastructure, quality of health care, education, labor productivity and increasing income for people.

Second, the decision to run as an independent candidate could be a way for Mr. Putin to assert himself and realistically assess the level of voters' trust in the ruling party.

According to a survey by Levada, Mr. Putin's approval rating in November was 81%, while the approval rating for the ruling United Russia party was only 42%.

The Russian presidential election will take place on March 18, 2018. So far, 23 candidates have declared their intention to run. News agencyTASSAccording to a survey conducted by VTsIOM published on December 20, if the Russian presidential election takes place next Sunday, 83.3% of respondents are willing to vote for President Putin.

Mr. Putin served two terms as president before becoming prime minister in 2008. He was re-elected president in 2012.

According to Dan Tri