MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russians preparing to vote on constitutional amendments on July 1 could be forgiven for not knowing that they can also pave the way for President Vladimir Putin to rule for another 12 years when his current term expires.
Months of television ads, online and posters have indexed proposed changes to pensions, animal rights and other rights. But they did not mean that the amendments would allow Putin to run for president again, he had fulfilled the constitutional highest of two consecutive terms.
“There are lots of changes and it’s hardly possible to single out one,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about the issue on Monday.
“They’re critical when taken together.”
An official website set up last week to provide information on the proposed amendments did not mention the impact on Putin until a journalist pointed out the omission.
“There are other technical filters. Maybe it was simply abandoned when the site was populated,” Peskov said, adding that the facts had already been added.
The multitude of constitutional amendments, among other things, will reinstate Putin’s presidential term, allowing him to serve two consecutive terms more than six years until 2036 if re-elected.
Critics called the verdict a constitutional coup that they say would allow 67-year-old Putin to unfairly increase his reign more than two decades after the end of his current term in 2024.
The Kremlin says most Russians and the country’s main political forces change. He presented the vote as a broader legislative exercise that would enshrine key rights.
Editing through Philippa Fletcher
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