Constitutional change in Russia 2020

 

In general, the following amendments are proposed:

1) Remove the «in a row» clause from the article regulating the maximum number of presidential terms, discounting previous presidential terms before the amendment enters into force.
2) Nullify the number of presidential terms served by the current President (Vladimir Putin) or former President (Dmitry Medvedev) to allow either to serve his first term if elected to the presidency in 2024.
3) The Russian Constitution should take precedence over international law;
4) The State Duma (the lower house of Parliament) should have the right to approve the Prime Minister’s candidacy (currently it only gives consent to his appointment), the State Duma will also be able to approve the candidates of Deputy Prime Ministers and Federal Ministers, the President will not be able to refuse their appointment, but in some cases will be able to remove them from office;
5) Persons who hold «important positions for ensuring the country’s security» (President, Ministers, judges, heads of regions) should not have foreign citizenship or residence permit in other countries, either at the time of their work in office or, in the case of the President, at any time before;
6) A presidential candidate must live in Russia for at least 25 years (currently 10 years) and may not have ever in their life held foreign citizenship or residency (with no possibility of renouncing foreign citizenship to become eligible to be president);
7) The Federation Council (the upper house of Parliament) will be able to propose that the President dismiss Federal judges; in some cases, the Federation Council, on the proposal of the President, will have the right to remove judges of the Constitutional and Supreme courts;
8) Particular ministers who are the heads of law enforcement agencies must be appointed by the President in consultation with the Federation Council;
9) The minimum wage cannot be lower than the subsistence minimum;
10) Regular indexation of pensions;
11) Consolidation of the status and role of the State Council (at present it is only an advisory body and is not prescribed in the Constitution);
12) Granting the Constitutional Court the ability to check the constitutionality of laws adopted by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation at the request of the President before they are signed by the President;
13) Faith in God;
14) Defining marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman.