Putin until 2036: almost 80% of Russians supported amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation

The Central Election Commission of Russia reported that 100% of the protocols from polling stations and electronic voting on amendments to the Constitution of Russia have been counted. According to the Central Election Commission, 77,92% of citizens voted “for”, writes Air force.

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According to the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, the vote was recognized as valid - “the commission is not aware of any cases that could affect the result.”

The amendments, among other things, will allow Vladimir Putin to reset the constitutional limit on the number of presidential terms and remain in the top post until 2036. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the voting results “a de facto triumphant referendum on confidence in President Putin.”

Also in the main law there will be amendments on faith in God, the institution of marriage will be enshrined as a union of a man and a woman (the state will assume responsibilities for its protection) and there will be a ban on “belittling the significance of the people’s feat in defending the Fatherland.” These amendments to his own bill were introduced by Putin himself on the last day when this was legally possible.

In addition, the Russian language will be given the status of “the language of the state-forming people,” and children will be considered “the most important priority of Russian state policy.”

The State Duma will have the right to approve ministers and deputy prime ministers, and the president, in turn, will have the right to dissolve it if more than a third of his candidates are not approved. In addition, former presidents will have the right to serve as a senator for life, and the prime minister will bear “personal responsibility” to the head of state.

New judicial amendments were added to the second reading: for example, the Constitutional Court will get the right to cancel decisions of the international arbitration if it imposed obligations on Russia (for such a case, for example, the decision of the Hague court, according to which Moscow should pay $ 50 billion to former shareholders Yukos).

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How did the vote go?

The total turnout for voting was about 67,97%, the CEC said. In Moscow, the turnout was less than 56%, the deputy chairman of the Moscow City Commission Dmitry Reut told RIA Novosti.

The movement for the protection of voters' rights "Voice" reported on June 30 that during the week of voting they received more than 1,5 thousand complaints about violations. Signs of violations were present in 700 complaints, they noted.

The Central Election Commission reported on the evening of July 1 that they had not recorded any serious violations during the voting on the Constitution that could have affected the result. Remote voting turned out to be “more in demand than ever,” the CEC emphasized.

According to Ella Pamfilova, so far there are only four cases where ballots can be invalidated.

Among the regions of Russia, only one voted against the amendments to the Constitution - the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. At consulate polling stations in London, New York, Berlin, Vienna and Paris, the majority of votes were also cast against.

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Support for the amendments in the Omsk region and the Russian North was noticeably below the national average: in the Murmansk region just over 62% of voters were in favor, in the Arkhangelsk region - 65%.

Among other things, they voted in Mordovia with more enthusiasm than the official Russian average for the Central Election Commission - more than 85% of the votes were in favor. In Chechnya, the official turnout was 95,14%, 97,92% (712 people) voted “for”, 909% “against”.

On Wednesday, July 1, in Moscow on Pushkinskaya Square and in St. Petersburg on the Palace held protests against the adoption of amendments to the Constitution. They gathered a small number of participants. The police did not intervene. One activist was detained at the Palace, but he was soon released.

In Moscow, there was also an action on Red Square - the participants laid out the number 2036 with their bodies. They were detained, but also soon released.

Some voting participants were able to receive a ballot more than once: in particular, Dozhd journalist Pavel Lobkov did this. Golos movement expert Vasily Weissenberg also received a ballot: he said that he did not want to vote electronically, but did not vote a second time. Others also spoke about receiving the newsletter again, and the Investigative Committee became interested in some of the messages.

Lotteries were held at polling stations in Moscow - with the points they won, voters would be able to pay for goods in pharmacies and grocery stores, checks in restaurants, and more.

Weekly voting experience is supported in the regions, said Pavel Krasheninnikov, head of the State Duma committee on state building and legislation. He added that in the future it is possible to conduct voting within three to four days. Pamfilova noted that this issue was not discussed in the CEC, but it needs changes at the legislative level.

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The main thing about amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation

Voting on amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation lasted from June 25 to July 1. It was proposed to amend immediately 22 articles of the country's Basic Law, but the Russians could vote either immediately for the entire package of amendments, or against all of them. Earlier, the changes were already approved by the State Duma, the Federation Council, regional parliaments and the Constitutional Court, writes DW. The main innovations:

Zeroing Putin's deadlines

The most discussed innovation is the reset of Vladimir Putin’s presidential terms. This norm appeared among the amendments in March just a day before the entire package was finally adopted by the State Duma. The initiative was put forward by United Russia deputy Valentina Tereshkova. And Putin himself agreed to reset his terms if the Constitutional Court and citizens of the Russian Federation supported it at the vote. Resetting presidential terms to zero largely clarified the essence of a number of other amendments previously proposed by the president.

Presidents of the Russian Federation after Putin - no longer than two terms. Already without “in a row”

The next head of state in Russia will not be able to hold this position more than twice. The current norm with the qualifying word “consecutively” allowed Vladimir Putin, after eight years of presidency, to move to the chair of prime minister, and in 2012 to return to the presidency for two more terms. Now it will be impossible. However, the restriction will not affect Putin himself.

If the proposed amendments come into force, the current president will be able to be elected again as head of state, despite already having four terms under his belt. It is noteworthy that Vladimir Putin previously stated that removing the word “in a row” from the constitution should ensure the rotation of power in the country: “In my opinion, in order to guarantee the rotation of power - and for a country like ours this is important - after all It would be better if the number of terms for electing a president is limited.”

Presidential Powers: Control over Judges and Ministers

At the same time, the Russian president will now have more power, while the prime minister and the government will have less. The Constitution of the Russian Federation will clarify that the president not only has the right to chair government meetings, but also exercises “general management” of its work. The Prime Minister, in turn, will no longer determine the main directions of the Cabinet’s work, but will only “organize” its work based on the instructions of the President.

The head of state will also be able to appoint (after consultations with senators) and dismiss a number of ministers, primarily the security bloc - that is, the heads of the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs. The rest will be proposed by the prime minister and approved by the deputies. The number of senators that the president can appoint to the Federation Council will increase. Moreover, he will be able to provide seven of them with this position for life.

Judges will also become more dependent on the president. In particular, he will be able to initiate the dismissal of members of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, including chairmen and their deputies. Until now, the head of state only had the right to appoint them, and the High Qualification Board of Judges monitored their work and could remove them in case of violations. In addition, there will be fewer members of the Constitutional Court: instead of 19, there will be only 11.

At the initiative of deputies and senators, guarantees of the president’s immunity after resignation were issued at the constitution level. Now this norm will be more difficult to change. In addition, the president after resignation may become a lifelong senator, if he wants.

On the subject: Six interesting facts about the US Constitution

Restriction of international law in the Russian Federation

At the initiative of Putin, a provision will appear in the constitution that will allow Russia not to implement decisions of international bodies. This requires that the Constitutional Court, which will now be more dependent on the president, recognize them as contrary to the Basic Law of Russia. Now such a rule is already in effect in relation to decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

However, formally, the priority of international law is preserved, and Russians can apply to international bodies to protect their rights. That is, if justice could not be achieved in Russian courts, it will be possible, as before, to file a claim with the ECHR.

State Council as a new constitutional body

A new constitutional body will appear in Russia - the State Council. It will be formed by the president, and its members will determine the directions of domestic and foreign policy. This is not a completely new institution, but now it performs only advisory functions and has no real power.

Details of the work of the State Council in the new status will become clear only when the relevant federal law is adopted. Against the background of a lack of clarity, there were suggestions that he would be headed by Putin after leaving his post as president.

But he himself stated that his agreement to become the head of the State Council could lead to “dual power in the country - for Russia this is an absolutely disastrous situation.”

Russia as the heir of the USSR and “defenders of the Fatherland”

Putin decided to stipulate in the Constitution that Russia is the legal successor of the Soviet Union. The document separately notes that the state “honors the memory of the defenders of the Fatherland” and “ensures the protection of historical truth.” “Belittling the significance of the people’s feat in defending the Fatherland is not allowed,” the presidential amendments say.

Putin also proposed to prescribe in the Basic Law not only the protection of the sovereignty and integrity of Russia, but also the support of compatriots abroad. The state declares its readiness to defend their rights and protect their interests.

Belief in God and family values

At the same time, the document included an ambiguous and lengthy formulation about a country “united by a thousand-year history” and preserving “the memory of our ancestors who passed on to us the ideals and faith in God.” Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with Kommersant FM, tried to comment on these phrases, but was unable to say anything in essence.

At the same time, the Constitution included promises to instill patriotism and respect for elders in children, designation of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, as well as the expression “traditional family values,” for which the government will be responsible.

New bans for civil servants

The amendments expanded the restrictions for civil servants. Officials, deputies and judges will be prohibited from having foreign citizenship or a residence permit in another country. Moreover, only a person who at the time of assuming office not only does not have the right to permanently live abroad, but has never had such a document, can now become president.

In addition, officials, deputies, judges, prosecutors and heads of regions will not be able to have accounts and store valuables abroad. Deputies from different parties proposed supplementing this part by banning the possession of real estate abroad, but this initiative was not included in the final version.

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