Russian President Vladimir Putin passed a law allowing him to run for two more terms in 2021. This means he could be elected for two more terms and remain in the Kremlin until 2036, when he will be 84 years old.
The constitutional amendment had already been approved by Parliament and received popular approval in a referendum held in July last year. In a successful marketing strategy, the proposal was presented by the first cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, a personality respected by all Russians.
Putin has been in power for more than two decades, switching between president and prime minister. He would resign from the presidency in 2024 after serving two consecutive terms as president.
But with the new law, the president has created an exception that renews his term and allows him to serve two more terms of six years each. This means he could take office in 2024 and 2030 and will remain in the presidency until 2036 if elected.
In practice, given his age (he will be 68 in October), Putin assured him that he would become president for life if he wanted to.
new legislation
The new law is part of a package of other constitutional changes proposed by the Russian government. For those who criticize Putin, the amendment that addresses the possibility of reelection was indeed the main purpose of the reform package, and it is an excuse to allow the Russian leader to be “president for life”.
Amendments to the legislation include strengthening the power of the president, designating marriage as a union between “a man and a woman”, and adding the term “faith in God” to the Constitution of Russia as the country’s core value.
In addition, it is stipulated that only citizens who have reached the age of 35 and have permanently resided in Russia for at least 25 years can run for the presidency. Kremlin candidates cannot hold dual citizenship or hold passports from another country in the past.
popular endorsement
Putin appeared before the lawmakers with a show of humility: He said he would accept the proposal only if the Constitutional Court found it legal and passed a non-mandatory popular vote with the constitutional amendment package he initiated.
According to official figures, the constitutional reform was approved by about 78% of Russians in the referendum, which was attended by 65% of the electorate. However, Moscow has been the target of a series of allegations that results were manipulated.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny described the 2020 referendum as a “big lie”. The NGO Golos, which specializes in monitoring the elections, condemned an “unprecedented” attack on the sovereignty of the Russian people.
Longest government since Stalin
Vladimir Putin became president of the country following the resignation of Boris Yeltsin and after intense competition with potential successors to someone who had until then been Russia’s only president since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He was Yeltsin’s prime minister, and when Yeltsin resigned, Putin assumed the interim presidency until the general election in March 2000. After being elected, he ruled the country for two consecutive four-year terms.
To circumvent Russia’s two-term limit for presidents in a row, the Kremlin managed to elect its ally, Dmitri Medvedev, who took office in 2008, when Putin was prime minister.
In November 2008, newly elected Dmitri Medvedev proposed (and ratified) three constitutional amendments, including Article 81, which increased the presidential term from four to six years, and Article 93, which increased the term of office of legislators from four to five years. years.
These changes will give the current Russian president the opportunity to rule the country for 12 years instead of eight. Putin later returned to power in 2012 and was re-elected in 2018. His rule is the longest since Josef Stalin, who ruled the Soviet Union for 29 years.
source: Noticias
