Russians set to back reforms allowing Putin to extend rule

MOSCOW: Russians were set to approve constitutional reforms yesterday denounced by critics as a manoeuvre to allow President Vladimir Putin to stay in the Kremlin for life.

The changes were passed weeks ago by Parliament and copies of the new constitution are already on sale in bookshops, but Putin pushed ahead with a nationwide vote that ended yesterday to confer legitimacy on his plans.

The Kremlin pulled out all the stops to encourage turnout, with polls extended almost more than a week, the last day of voting declared a national holiday and prizes, including apartments and cars, on offer to voters.

Initially planned for April 22, the vote was postponed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but rescheduled after Putin said the epidemic had peaked and officials began reporting fewer new cases.

There is little doubt the reforms, which include patriotic and populist measures like guaranteed minimum pensions and an effective ban on gay marriage, will be approved.

A state-run exit poll of more than 163,000 voters this week showed 76 per cent in favour.

Putin said the changes were needed to ensure stability and cement Russian values in the face of pernicious Western influences.

“We are voting for the country... We want to pass on to our children and grandchildren,” he said on Tuesday in a final appeal to voters. “We can ensure stability, security, prosperity and a decent life only through development, only together and by ourselves.”

Many Russians, especially those who remember the chaos and economic turmoil of the 1990s, agree.

“There are a lot of problems in our country. And the amendments, they will help solve them, not completely, but in part,” Moscow subway worker Vladimir Bodrov said after voting last week.

Critics said the reforms were a cover for Putin to extend his rule after nearly 20 years in power.

Chief opposition campaigner Alexei Navalny said Putin wanted to make himself “president for life” and called for a boycott.

US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun on Monday said the vote was a “foregone conclusion” aimed at “the extension of (Putin’s) rule for what effectively is his natural life”.