Putin reveals nationwide vote on reforms that could allow him to stay in power until 2036 will be held on July 1 after coronavirus delayed April referendum
- Reforms would allow Putin to serve two more back-to-back six year terms
- Proposed tweaks to Russia’s constitution would allow him to serve until 2036
- His approval rating has fallen to record lows during the coronavirus outbreak
- Moscow residents were allowed to leave their home for a short stroll today for the first time in nine weeks following a fall in cases
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Russian President Vladimir Putin today revealed a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms that could extend his rule in the Kremlin would be held on July 1, after the April 22 vote was postponed due to the novel coronavirus.
The changes, already approved by parliament and Russia’s Constitutional Court, would reset Putin’s presidential term tally to zero, allowing him to serve two more back-to-back six year terms until 2036 if reelected
Putin is currently required by the constitution to step down in 2024 when his second sequential and fourth presidential term ends.
The president’s proposal comes as critics accuse him of failing to support businesses and ordinary Russians battered by the coronavirus. His approval rating fell to a historic low of 59 per cent in an April poll.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during a video conference meeting today at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, shortly after setting a date for a nationwide vote on constitutional reforms
Putin announced the date from a government residence in Moscow while meeting with Russia’s electoral commission by video call.
Meanwhile, outside the residence, Muscovites today are allowed to leave their homes to take a stroll for the first time in nine weeks following a fall in novel coronavirus cases.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin last week told Putin he would relax some lockdown rules in the Russian capital, which has a population of 12.7 million, and that an array of shops could reopen.
Shops in Moscow that were ordered to close in late March including car dealerships, dry cleaners, shoe repair stores, book shops and launderettes, are set to open.
Residents will be allowed out for walks three times a week on designated days that are determined by the address they live at. People can also jog or do outdoor sports, but only between 5am and 9am, officials say.
Shopping centres and most parks, all of which have been fenced off for weeks, will also open on Monday, though children’s playgrounds inside them and sports facilities will stay shut.
Officials are still reporting thousands of new infections every day across Russia’s 11 time zones and the capital remains the worst-hit region in terms of the volume of confirmed cases.
A man walks through a disinfection cabin at entrance of the Evropeyskiy shopping mall in Moscow today
But the rate of infection has fallen sharply in recent weeks. Moscow on Sunday reported 2,595 new infections. Daily infection increases were previously running at over 6,000.
Putin has warned of the risk of a second outbreak in the autumn, but said the situation overall has stabilised.
He last week rescheduled Moscow’s postponed Victory Day military parade across Red Square for June 24.
Moscow’s lockdown has been strict on paper, with residents told to stay at home except to buy food, seek medical attention or to work if their employers were given special dispensation.
Russia’s confirmed cases of the coronavirus passed the 400,000 mark over the weekend, the world’s third highest tally