I am not thrilled about this at all.
Representative democracy involves the regular transfer of power to avoid turning into authoritarianism or, worse, a dictatorship.
Putin has been in power for so long (not accounting for his temporary hiatus during Medvedev’s presidency although it can be argued that Putin was still in charge even then) that an entire generation of Russians has already grown up not knowing any political leaders other than Putin. It’s not a good thing, regardless of his leadership qualities. Even if I were to agree that Putin is a great statesman (which I don’t) and taking into account the usual argument of many pro-Putin Russians that there are no viable opposition candidates that would be popular enough to replace Putin and could actually be trusted to govern Russia, I think that it’s just not true that such a large country is unable to produce any other great politicians and statesmen (or women) than Putin.
Yeltsin turned Russia into a chaotic brothel that was unravelling at the seams, but Putin is gradually turning the country into a swamp with increasingly less breathing room for healthy political competition. Swaps are also known to accumulate dangerous gases that are released to the surface, and I would prefer for Russia not to have to repeat any of its disastrous historical experiences in terms of social turmoil as a result of the lack of political pluralism.
While it is true that the Russians prefer influential leaders that get things done, it doesn’t mean that the Russians like despots or tyrants. Most people I know would like to see strong, competent leaders that compete with each other and don’t overstay their time in office after accomplishing what the people had voted them in for. Of course, one can argue that the very nature of state affairs is such that a leader’s job is never done, but if we think along such lines, then we could just as well restore the monarchy and stop voting in elections altogether.
I’m sorry, but everyone should be allocated a limited amount of time to shine in the most powerful political office of Russia and then vacate it once their time is over (measured not in sly terms like holding office no more than two times in a row and returning to the same position afterwards or even gathering a council full of your political allies and friends and then saying things like “I’m not against it if they decide to reset the count of my presidential terms from the two that I’m serving in a row now back to zero”).