RUSSIA - Dec.9 - Putin Says Constitution Is Solid.

"It is time for us to end all talk about the need to change the constitution", Pres. Putin says in televised remarks, adding: "I absolutely think that the current constitution became the basis for stability in society, and I believe that has not exhausted its positive potential".

(This should dispel speculation that he planned to alter the constitution to extend his term in office. Liberals who suffered a devastating defeat in the Dec.7 vote warned that Putin was lurching towards authoritarianism. At the same time, pro-Kremlin parties basked in glory and vowed to "return the nation's riches to the state". Pro-government forces won at least 316 seats in the Dec.7 elections. Since then, speculation has been rife that Putin will try to centralise power.

The Kremlin needed to secure 301 seats to push through amendments to a constitution written by Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, and ratified by Russians on Dec. 12, 1993. Russian leaders are now limited to 2 terms in office. Putin was elected in 2000 and is widely expected to run and win re-election to a second term in March 2004. Putin hinted he might fiddle with how the constitution defined relations between Moscow and the Russian regions, after accusing local authorities of flaunting powers and adopting illegal laws. After winning authority from Yeltsin, news agencies quoted Putin as saying regions used it "sometimes to excess").