Pavel Felgenhauer: Vladimir Putin – Russia’s eternal leader

On Jan. 15, 2020, during an annual address to a joint session of both houses of parliament, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a process of constitutional reforms, which officially concluded with a national referendum, held on June 25–July 1. The procedure of constitutional change turned out to be lengthier and more precarious than the Kremlin originally planned. The State Duma (lower house of parliament) and the Federation Council (upper house) duly rubber-stamped the constitutional amendments, and the legislatures of all 85 subjects (this number includes Crimea and Sevastopol city, illegally annexed in 2014) of the Russian Federation ratified them. The Constitutional Court took less than two days to compose a lengthy legal document vetting all the amendments as fully legal and democratic “because [they] will reflect the will of the people” (see EDM, March 19). The referendum to finalize and legitimize the process was initially planned for April 22. But the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantines in Moscow and other major cities intervened. By June, most quarantine restrictions were lifted, and the referendum was finally scheduled for July 1, with a week of early and Internet voting. Putin obtained the end result he wanted: Almost 78 percent voted “Yes,” with an overall turnout of almost 68 percent. This translated to almost 58 million Russian casting “Yes” ballots (almost 53 percent of all eligible voters); so the outcome is considered constitutionally valid (Interfax, July 2). The Kremlin described the vote as a “triumph” (RBC, July 2).

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