New Constitutional Amendments in Russia Allow Putin to Run Again for Head of State

The State Duma of Russia has today passed in a plenary session the bill to amend the Constitution, which, among other changes, allows the current President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, to run for the head of state position again, reports TASS.

According to one of the new provisions of the Russian Constitution, the limitation on the terms during which the same person can hold the office of President of the Russian Federation applies to the current head of state without considering their previous presidential terms. Thus, this provision enables the current leader to occupy the presidency for two more terms.

The document was introduced to the State Duma back in November 2020 by deputies Pavel Krasheninnikov and Olga Savastyanova, as well as Federation Council member Andrey Klishas. It stipulates that a Russian citizen over the age of 35, who has resided in Russia for at least 25 years, can be elected President, provided they have never held citizenship or residency status in another country.

The initiative also sets an age limit for the person holding the position of Chair of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation. It is expected that the Chair can be a Russian citizen who is at least 30 years old. Furthermore, the Central Election Commission may prematurely terminate the authority of a member of its appointed territorial election commission.