Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed a law allowing him to hold office until 2036, a move that would lead to a constitutional change adopted by a vote last year.
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The July 1 constitutional vote sets out a condition that resets Mr. Putin's previous term limits, allowing him to run for president twice. The amendment was sealed with rubber by the Kremlin-led legislature and the relevant law signed by Mr. Putin was posted on Monday on an official legal information website.
The reforms, which critics criticized as a violation of the Constitution, were incorporated into other amendments that were expected to gain popular support, such as single pension protection.
A law signed by Mr. Putin prescribes any future president two terms in office. It also prevents anyone holding foreign citizenship from working for the Kremlin.
Russia's president, who has been in power for more than two decades - longer than any other Kremlin leader since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin - has said he will decide later on whether he will return in 2024 at the end of his six-year term.
He pointed out that resetting the word count was needed to keep his supervisors focused on their work rather than "scare their eyes on finding successors."
The constitutional amendments also emphasized the importance of Russian law on international norms, banned same-sex marriages, and spoke of “belief in God” as paramount. Nearly 78% of voters approved the constitutional amendments during the week-long voting process and ended on July 1. The turnout was 68%.
After the vote, Russian lawmakers changed national law, allowing appropriate legislation.
The opposition party has criticized the constitutional vote, saying it has been marred by widespread reports of voter pressure and other irregularities, as well as a lack of transparency and barriers to independent employment.
In the months since the election, Russia has arrested a prominent opposition figure, Alexei Navalny.
Mr. Navalny was arrested in January on his return from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from suspected poisoning in the Kremlin. Russian authorities have denied the allegations.
In February, Mr. Navalny was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison for violating the terms of his examination while recovering in Germany. The sentence stems from the sentencing of Mr. Navalny's 2014 theft case which he dismissed as a forgery - and which the European Court of Human Rights has ruled is illegal.
At the same time, the United States and Ukraine say Russia is aggravating the situation in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014. Russia denies any war. President Joe Biden has publicly criticized Mr. Putin since taking office, including last month calling Mr. Putin a "murderer."
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Russia has remembered its ambassador to the U.S., and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Russia's relations with the U.S. and its allies have "deteriorated."
The story was reported by The Associated Press. Reusable materials from Reuters were used in the report.
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