Russian elections on the latest constitutional amendments were to be held on April 22, however they have been delayed because of the coronavirus epidemic in the country.

If adopted these constitutional amendments will become the most extensive in the history of Russia. The Constitution of Russia has been changed 15 times in its recent history mainly renaming federation’s entities. The last one was in 2019, when the region of Kemerovo was renamed to the Kemerovo Region-Kuzbass signed by President Putin. Other important amendments to the Constitution were in 2008, extending the term of office of the head of the country to 6 years as well as the dissolution of the Supreme Arbitration Court in 2014 and the extension of power to the head of state in the same year.

President Putin spoke of the need for new changes for the first time on January 15, 2020 in his annual address to the Federal Council.

The President emphasized that though Russia's Constitution was adopted in 1993 under the difficult economic and political situation at the time there was no need to change it. Now, it is necessary to introduce a package of amendments to the Constitution, which according to Putin, will enter into force just after the citizen’s vote.

To approve the changes it is first necessary for their adoption by 2/3 of the State Duma, Federal Council and Russia’s entities, after which they must be signed by the President and by the Constitutional Court and to be put to the vote with a minimum of 50%.

Let’s briefly introduce the chronology of these constitutional amendments:

• On January 23, the bill was unanimously adopted with 432 votes,
• On March 10, the bill was adopted at second hearing, with 382 for and 34 abstentions,
• On March 11, the State Duma adopted the bill on amendments at the third and last hearing, with 383 for and 43 abstentions,
• On March 11, the Federal Council adopted the proposed amendments with 160 for, 1 against and 3 abstentions,
• On March 12 and 13, the Parliaments of the Russian 85 entities adopted the constitutional amendments: out of 3980 regional deputies only 67 voted against,
• On March 14, President signed the package of constitutional amendments,
• On March 16, the Constitutional Court approved the legitimacy of constitutional amendments

Lastly, President Putin confirmed that All-Russian elections will be held on April 22, except the March 25th elections for an indefinite period due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

What changes will pass in the Constitution?

P resident Putin outlined the key points, which need to be changed, during his speech on January 15.

• Affirm the supremacy of the Russian Constitution over international treaties,
• Establish a ban on foreign citizenship and residence permit for the head of the Government, ministers and heads of federal entities, governors, senators, deputies and judges,
• Strengthen interaction between state and local authorities,
• Establish a regulation on the State Council by the Constitution,
• Give the State Duma the right to approve the head of the government, as well as alternates and federal ministers,
• Appoint all law enforcement and district prosecutors by the president, after consulting with the Federal Council. It’s without consultation in the current Constitution.
• Change the requirements for becoming a president, who must reside in Russia for at least 25 years (now at least 10 years), shouldn’t have a foreign citizenship or resident permit either at the time of their work in office or, in the case of the President, at any time before,
• As well as remove the “in a row” clause from the article on “the president cannot rule twice in a row”.
• Granting the Constitutional Court the ability to check the constitutionality of laws adopted by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation at the request of the President before they are signed by the President.
• The Federation Council (the upper house of Parliament) will be able to propose to the President to dismiss Federal judges; in some cases, the Federation Council, on the proposal of the President, will have the right to remove judges of the Constitutional and Supreme courts.

The professional group created by the President’s decree developed these changes and added new points. They mainly refer to the head of the state, members of the government and new requirements for government officials at different levels, as well as to the status of the Russian Federation. Let’s address them separately.

President’s Term and Powers

I mmediately after Vladimir Putin’s statement, the opposition made various comments about the proposed changes, noting that Putin wants to extend his tenure. In fact, the conditions for becoming president were tightened. It was forbidden to run for the third term, although it was possible in the current Constitution, but not thereafter.

In the March 2 version, which was to be submitted to the State Duma, there was no new point extending the term of office of the president. Only at the 2^nd reading, Valentina Tereshkova, the member of the United Russia Party proposed to completely remove the point of the tenure or reschedule President Putin’s term of office after the amendment. 

After the proposal, President made a speech in the State Duma, noting that he accepts the proposal, however, only after the Constitutional Court has confirmed the legitimacy of the case. This means that President Putin may run in the presidential elections of 2024 and 2030 and govern the country until 2036. According to experts, the main purpose of the constitutional changes was to enable Putin to continue leading the country after 2024.

According to these changes, new presidents should have lived in Russia for at least 25 years (previously 10), and must not be a citizen of another country or have a residence permit of another country. Also part of the new changes the President and ministers shouldn’t have any deposit, money or jewelry in banks outside Russia. Besides these restrictions, a number of powers have also been increased. The President’s immunity will be maintained after the end of his term of office, which can be deprived only by impeachment. After the tenure, he is appointed a life-long senator.

The President should also carry the burden of the overall workload of the government and the Prime Minister should organize his work on the basis of the President’s instructions. Furthermore, if previously the whole government was dissolved after the release of the Prime Minister, with the new changes it will continue. According to these amendments, the President may appoint 30 members of the Federal Council, 7 members of which will serve for life.

In case of the adoption of the new amendments, the President will appoint the ministers of defense, emergencies, foreign affairs, justice and interior. The Prime Minister with the approval of the senators will appoint all others. After the discussion with the Council, the President will have the right to release the judges of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, which now can only be done by the courts.

International Law

O ne of the most important changes is on the restriction of international interference in Russia: Russia may not implement the decisions made by international bodies, and that the legality must be checked by the Constitutional Court of Russia. President Putin mentioned that this limits interference in Russia’s internal and foreign affairs and protects the country’s sovereignty.

Pensioners

T he amendments also include norms on workers and pensioners, which state that Russia respects citizen’s work. It is emphasized that the minimum wage should be no less than necessary to ensure a normal life. It’s also mentioned that the pension system should be re-indexed at least once a year. These changes are related to the law on raising the retirement age which caused dissatisfaction and are put in place perhaps to appease the sensitivity of pension reforms.

Russians and the Russian Language

A point was added to the constitutional amendments, where the Russian language and the Russian nation are considered state-created. The Mufti of Tatarstan expressed his indignation in this regard, considering that all the nations of Russia contributed to the establishment of the country.

God and Family

The use of the God’s name in the Constitution is now considered as inherited from our ancestors. It was mentioned that this doesn’t mean that the secular nature of the Russian State will be changed, it’s more about preserving the memory of the ancestors of the country who passed on to the people the ideals and faith in God.

The amendments deal with marriage as well, emphasizing that marriage is the union of a man and a woman.

No to Constitutional Amendments

The opposition became more active, when it became clear at the 2^nd hearing, that Putin’s term of office will be nullified.

All the three parliamentary opposition parties voted in favor of the bill at the 1^st hearing. At the 2^nd and 3^rd hearings, the Communist Party refused to vote in favor, noting that their proposals weren’t accepted and that the new amendments weren’t in the interest of the people but of the authorities. However, the Communists didn’t vote against but abstained, and voting in favor at the 1^st hearing, the party explained that they voted against Yeltsin’s Constitution.

Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Open Russia organization perhaps was the most active one to fight against the Constitutional amendments, which immediately after the president’s announcement on January 15, initiated the No movement, which now operates in 18 cities of Russia and 10,000 people already signed against the constitutional amendments.

After Putin’s announcement on March 10, the Party of Change and Yegor Zhukov’s team joined the Open Russia by announcing rallies in Moscow on March 21 and 22, which were to be attended by 50,000 people, but because of the spread of the coronavirus, the Moscow City Hall banned the protests.

Meanwhile, public, scientific and cultural figures sent an open letter to the President stating that they are against the Constitutional Amendments. 350 people signed the document. A well-known opposition figure in Russia Alexander Navalny stated during his YouTube program that he would fight against the changes, but didn’t say how. He called on voters to record all the election violations.