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Coronavirus pandemic

Russian constitutional amendments vote will be safe for citizens’ health, says Kremlin

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the situation "is becoming safer with each day"

© Press Office of the Russian Central Election Commission/TASS

MOSCOW, June 3. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov is confident that the upcoming vote on the amendments to the Russian Constitution will be safe for the citizens’ health if all sanitary-epidemiological safety requirements are met.

"It is unlikely that there will be a direct health hazard during the vote by that time if all precautionary measures are followed," the spokesman told reporters on Wednesday.

Read also

Kremlin says COVID-19 won’t affect turnout at Russian constitutional amendments vote

He noted that the situation "is becoming safer with each day." "The data on the infection rate and the epidemiological situation is stabilizing now, moreover, there is a stable trend towards a decrease [in cases of infection]," Peskov said. He noted that after the date of the vote was announced, the chief sanitary doctor stressed that Russia would have to "go through two more incubation periods, which, according to expert predictions, is likely to significantly improve the epidemiological situation compared to how it was before and how it is now."

About the constitutional amendments vote

On March 11, the Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) approved the final reading of the constitutional amendments bill proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. On the same day, it was approved by the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) and Russia’s regional parliaments.

The text of the bill was published on the official legal information portal. After the Constitutional Court’s ruling, which states that the bill does not violate the Constitution, a public vote will be held. If over 50% of the Russian public approve of the changes, the bill will enter into force.

The vote was initially set to take place on April 22, however, Putin chose to postpone it due to the situation with the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Russia. During a working session on Monday, Putin approved July 1, 2020 as the new date for the vote. The vote will be held over a seven-day period ending on July 1 due to epidemiological concerns.

The document proposes to expand the powers of the Russian parliament and the Russian Constitutional Court, a fixed number of presidential terms, as well as the prevalence of the Russian Constitution over international agreements. The document also expands the government’s obligations in the social sphere. The amendments to the Constitution stipulate that the Russian head of state can only serve two terms, however, one of the amendments proposes that the current president can be re-elected if the new version of the Constitution comes into force.

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