Critics question validity of Russia vote allowing Putin to remain in power until 2036

Vladimir Putin.
(Image credit: ALEXEY DRUZHININ/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian voters on Wednesday approved constitutional amendments that will allow President Vladimir Putin to remain in power until 2036, which would make him the Kremlin's longest-serving leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. The 67-year-old Putin has governed the country since 1999, alternating between the position of prime minister and the presidency.

Putin's current term is up in 2024, but it became clear he wasn't going when he proposed the constitutional changes in January. Russia's parliament would have been able to cement the law allowing him to run — and almost certainly win — two more times, but Putin sought to show his broad public support with a vote that was initially delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic before it eventually began last week.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.