The Eternal Putin?

from The World Unpacked · host Laura Lucas Magnuson, Andrei Kolesnikov

In January, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced sweeping reforms to the country's constitution, resulting in the surprise resignation of his entire cabinet. The 200+ amendments make a number of changes, including outlawing gay marriage, increasing the minimum wage, and removing term limits for the Russian presidency. The amendments were put to a referendum, with voting taking place June 25 - July 1.Andrei Kolesnikov, senior fellow and the chair of the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, joins Laura to discuss what the referendum results suggest about Russian support for Putin and his ideology.Read more from Andrei:The Eternal PutinPutin’s Majority 3.0Did Putin Just Appoint Himself President for Life?Planning for a (Not-So) Post-Putin RussiaWhat Are Russians Protesting About?

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jul 9, 2020

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What this episode covers

In early July, Russian voters approved a package of 200+ constitutional amendments, including one that would allow Putin to remain in power until 2036. Laura talks to Andrei Kolesnikov about what the results suggest about Russian support for Putin and his ideology.