Russia’s Constitutional Court finds in favor of new amendments proposed by Putin

1:45 pm, March 16, 2020

Russia’s Constitutional Court has issued a ruling determining that the series of radical changes to the country’s Constitution developed by executive and legislative officials in recent weeks do not contradict any of the current Constitution’s unalterable clauses.

The Court specifically determined that one of the most controversial measures in question, a clause “zeroing out” the term counts of former and current presidents, would be constitutional if passed. The clause would theoretically allow Vladimir Putin to continue serving until 2036.

All that now stands between the proposals and the status of constitutional amendments is a nationwide vote planned for April 22. Sources have told Meduza that the vote may be delayed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, but the Kremlin has hedged against those claims.

What does this mean?

The constitutionality of six terms Russia’s high court must decide if Putin can legally serve another two presidential terms. Here’s how the decision is supposed to work.