Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday signed into law a change to the country's constitution that will allow him to run for two more six-year terms, granting himself the chance to remain in power until 2036.
The Russian leader, 68, has already run the country for more than two decades.
A copy of the new law was posted on the government's legal information website on April 5, confirming that the legislation had been finalized. Prior to the new law, Putin would have been required to step down after his fourth and current term in 2024.
But in March last year, lawmaker Valentina Tereshkova, a lawmaker from Russia’s ruling party, proposed the constitutional change during a discussion in the State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament).
Putin last year proposed the change as part of constitutional reforms that Russians overwhelmingly backed in a vote in July.
The constitutional amendments also emphasized the primacy of Russian law over international norms and outlawed same-sex marriages.
The constitutional amendments also emphasized the primacy of Russian law over international norms and outlawed same-sex marriages.
Nearly 78 percent of voters approved the constitutional amendments during the balloting that lasted for a week and concluded on July 1. Turnout was 68 percent.
Following the vote, Russian lawmakers have methodically modified the national legislation, approving the relevant laws.
Vladimir Putin was first elected president in 2000 and served two consecutive four-year terms. His ally Dmitry Medvedev took his place in 2008, which critics saw as a way around Russia’s limit of two consecutive terms for presidents.
While in office, Medvedev signed off on legislation extending terms to six years starting with the next president. Putin then returned to the Kremlin in 2012 and won re-election in 2018.
