Constitutional amendments allow Russian president to run two more consecutive times.
Surprise! Putin won.
Russians voted by a landslide to pass constitutional changes that will allow Vladimir Putin to run for president twice more, potentially extending his rule until 2036.
According to official preliminary results published Wednesday, about half an hour after polls closed, around 73 percent voted yes to the amendments, versus 26 percent against. Turnout was about 65 percent.
The amendments will “reset” the two-term presidential limit to zero, allowing Putin to run for another two six-year, consecutive mandates after his current term ends in 2024. He has already led Russia for more than two decades, as either president or prime minister.
Putin has said he is yet to decide whether he would run again. If he does run in the next elections, set for 2024 and 2030, he could be in charge longer than any ruler since Peter the Great, including Joseph Stalin. By the time of the 2036 election, Putin would be 83.
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Russians voted by a landslide to pass constitutional changes that will allow Vladimir Putin to run for president twice more, potentially extending his rule until 2036 https://t.co/Pxme4JaVEb
— POLITICO (@politico) July 1, 2020
Meanwhile, in Russia – results released five hours before polls closed …. https://t.co/5NE0qM3XPV
— Patricia Zengerle (@ReutersZengerle) July 1, 2020
The Second Russian Republic, 1993-2020, RIP https://t.co/YXkt7RV2BC
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 1, 2020
Two theories:
1. Putin was always this bad and people like me missed it; he was a cruise missile fired by the power ministries into the heart of Russian democracy.
2. Putin changed over time.
/2— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 1, 2020
I think if Putin had not come back for a third term, Russian history would be different. But the mafia dynamics are that Putin couldn't feel safe anywhere but in power. Others argue Putin was set to destroy the democratic system from day one. I'm less sure. /4
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 1, 2020
My biggest mistake was optimism. It's not an expert's job to be optimistic; it's our job to be empirical. I think, as an old Cold Warrior, I was invested in that hope. That's an error, and I have to own that.
/6x— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 1, 2020
Yeah. I mean, this election, they're not even trying to hide it. That's why they're racing to change the constitution – which, ironically, says something good about constitutionalism in Russia.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 1, 2020
This is an important point. If David Satter is right that the security services blew up those apartment buildings – a conclusion I at first resisted but now think is probably right – then we have to rethink everything about Putin. https://t.co/oCHlCd81gF
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 1, 2020
Помогите нам удалить товарища Д. Дж. Трампа из Белого дома!
Поддержите @ProjectLincoln!pic.twitter.com/4b9IbISzzC
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) July 1, 2020
This is the kind of world leader Trump embraces, maybe even colludes with. At the same time he disrespects our allies.
I’m betting Trump is trying to figure out how he can extend his presidency indefinitely, just like his buddy, Putin.
Good, honest thread. I never had much optimism about Putin, having had a front-row seat to the "unsolved" 1999 apartment bombings, but any hopes I had vanished ca 2006-7 when the Kremlin unleashed its Special Services on the West in mafia fashion. https://t.co/UQQv73Dpm6
— John Schindler (@20committee) July 1, 2020
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