MOSCOW (AP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a law allowing him to remain in power until 2036, a move that formalizes constitutional changes that were endorsed in a vote last year.
The constitutional vote on July 1 contained a provision that restored Putin’s previous term restrictions, enabling him to serve twice more for president. The change was posted by the Kremlin – controlled legislature with a rubber stamp and the relevant law, signed by Putin, was posted on an official portal with legal information on Monday.
The 68-year-old Russian president, who has been in power for more than two decades – longer than any other Kremlin leader since Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin – said he would later decide whether to run again in 2024. his current term of six years. end.
He argued that the restoration of the term score was necessary to keep his lieutenants focused on their work instead of ‘looking their eyes in search of possible successors’.
The constitutional amendments also emphasized the primacy of Russian law over international norms, banned same-sex marriage, and cited “faith in God” as its core value. Nearly 78% of voters approved the constitutional amendments during the vote, which lasted a week and ended on July 1. The turnout was 68%.
Following the vote, Russian lawmakers methodically adapted national legislation and approved the relevant laws.
The opposition criticized the constitutional vote, arguing that it was affected by widespread reports of pressure on voters and other irregularities, as well as a lack of transparency and barriers to independent monitoring.
In the months since the vote, Russia has imprisoned the most prominent opposition figure, Alexei Navalny.
The 44-year-old Navalny was arrested in January on his return from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve agent poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have denied the allegations.
In February, Navalny was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating the terms of his probation while recovering in Germany. The sentence stems from a 2014 conviction for embezzlement that Navalny rejected as fabricated – and which, according to the European Court of Human Rights, is illegal.
According to his team, Navalny lost a significant amount of weight before going on a hunger strike on Wednesday due to the failure of the protest authorities to treat his back and leg pain properly.
Navalny complained about the refusal of prison officers to give him the right medication and allow his doctor to visit him. He also protested against the hourly checks a guard does on him at night, saying it amounts to sleep deprivation.
In an Instagram post Monday, Navalny said three out of 15 people in his room at the penal colony were diagnosed with tuberculosis. He noted that he had a strong cough and fever of 38.1 Celsius (100.6 Fahrenheit).
Later on Monday, the newspaper Izvestia issued a statement from the civil service stating that Navalny had been moved to the sanitary unit of the prison colony after having “signs of a respiratory illness, including high fever.”
Navalny said he and other inmates are studying a tuberculosis prevention study that studies the importance of boosting immunity with a balanced diet – advice faced with a prison ration of ‘gummy porridge and frozen potatoes’.