Referendum on the constitution allows Putin to remain in power until 2036 begins

The official deadline for the referendum, in which around 110 million voters are eligible to vote, is July 1, but authorities opened polling stations as of June 25 to avoid large numbers of voters due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The referendum was supposed to take place on April 22, but was postponed due to an epidemic of Covid-19, and in January the Russian President called for this first amendment of the 1993 constitution.

Parliament approved the amendment so it is not legally presumed to be subject to a referendum, but Putin insisted on this vote because of the importance of the issue.

The main opponent of the Kremlin, Alexei Navalny, said that this vote wears a populist character whose sole purpose is "to return the counter of Putin's states to zero and give him a life presidency," and wrote on social networks in June that it was "a violation of the constitution, a coup."

The amendment allows the current president to remain in the Kremlin for two additional terms until 2036, the year in which he will be 84 years old, and under the current constitution, Putin's presidency is supposed to end in 2024.