Russia’s Constitutional Court ruled Monday that the constitutional amendments signed off by President Vladimir Putin on March 14 are legal, including one that would allow the head of state to remain in power until 2036.
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Russia: President Putin Signs Law Amending the Constitution
The reforms limit to two the maximum of six-year presidential terms that the same citizen can occupy, allowing Putin to run for reelection in 2024.
On March 10, Russia's lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma passed the constitutional changes. While the Constitutional Court’s approval was delivered in a 52-page ruling posted on its website on Monday.
They also cover social issues such as the annual indexation of pensions, state support for large families, the inclusion of God in the constitutional text, and the definition of marriage as a heterosexual union.
The Russian president promised, when signing the reforms into law, that these changes will only come into effect if the court gives its go-ahead and if the Russians approve the amendments in a plebiscite on April 22.