General Information
As of March 25, 2020, the referendum was postponed due to coronavirus concerns.
The draft amendments to the Constitution were submitted to a referendum in accordance with article 2 of the Law on Amendments to the Constitution. Unlike a referendum carried out in accordance with the referendum law, voters will be asked whether they approve the entire revised constitution as a whole, rather than approving each amendment separately.
In total, 14 articles will be changed:
- The Russian Constitution should take precedence over international law;
- 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;
- 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;
- A presidential candidate must live in Russia for at least 25 years (currently 10 years);
- The Federation Council (the upper house of Parliament) will be able to propose to the President to 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;
- Heads of law enforcement agencies must be appointed by the President in consultation with the Federation Council;
- The minimum wage cannot be lower than the subsistence minimum;
- Regular indexation of pensions;
- 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);
- 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;
- Remove the "in a row" clause from the article regulating the maximum number of presidential terms.
Results:
Choice | Votes | % |
Yes | 57,747,288 | 78.56 |
No | 15,761,978 | 21.44 |
Invalid | 604,951 | - |