Moscow - A Kremlin bill to extend the presidential term from four to six years was almost unanimously voted through its second reading Wednesday in Russia's lower house of parliament.

The proposed constitutional amendment now faces one final reading.

While President Dmitry Medvedev launched the draft law, constitutional experts say the law would not apply to him.

Many analysts say he is just a seat warmer setting the way for 12 more years of Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. Currently serving as prime minister, Putin has not ruled out another presidential term.

Putin backed the term extensions this week but said it was "premature" to say who they might benefit.

Lawmakers in the State Duma also voted to lengthen their own terms to five years from four. The bill was backed by 351 of the 408 deputies present.

There is little doubt the legislation would be upheld in the Duma, which many see as a rubber stamp body dominated by a pro-Kremlin faction easily making up the two-thirds majority necessary to enact changes to the constitution.

The vote came a bare two weeks after Medvedev declared his intention to push through the amendment in his state-of-the-nation address on November 5.

Putin is criticized for centralizing power during his eight years in office, for example by replacing elections of regional governors with presidential appointments and consolidating much of Russia's political power into the hands of the party he heads. (dpa)