Russian parliament gives Putin reforms green light in first vote
Russia’s lower house of parliament has unanimously backed the constitutional shake-up proposed by Vladimir Putin last week, paving the way for reforms that could cement the President’s power after he steps down from his current post.
All 432 lawmakers in the lower house assented to the reforms, with no votes against or abstentions. The vote was the initial step in the first constitutional changes in Russia since 1993.
Under Putin’s plans, presidential power would be weakened and the powers of the prime minister, parliament and the advisory State Council would be beefed up.
Putin has moved between the posts of President and prime minister, meaning his 20-year grip on Russian politics is longer than Stalin’s. He is legally required to step down as President in four years’ time, having served two consecutive terms.
The changes would let Putin, who is 67, either become prime minister once again or head of the State Council, keeping his grip on Russia. He said in his annual state of the union address that the plans should be put to a “people’s vote”.
Before they can be put to a referendum, the reforms have to be signed off by the lower house of parliament in two more votes, pass the upper house and be looked at by regional parliaments before they can be signed off by Putin himself.
“Putin doesn’t want power to leave his hands,” said Nikolai Petrov, senior Russia research fellow at Chatham House said when the President announced his plans last week.
“In my view it looks now like Putin is eager to keep in his hands the control over security by chairing the Security Council and the control over strategic decisions made by the government by chairing the State Council.”