Putin signs Russia’s constitutional reform law

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday signed the package of constitutional reforms he had proposed, including a clause giving him an option to run for two more terms.

The Kremlin has published the 68-page law spelling out the constitutional reforms on the official website. Putin´s signature triggers a special procedure for the package, which differs from the way laws usually go into effect.

The reforms were sent to the Russian Constitutional Court which has a week to rule on whether to approve the law, which would reset Putin's constitutional limit on terms in power.

The law will then be voted on by the Russian public.

A spokeswoman at the constitutional court told AFP on Saturday evening that judges had begun to review the reform package, but could not say when they will be issuing the decision.

The Kremlin has named April 22 as the day of the vote, and Russia´s Senate Speaker Valentina Matvienko on Saturday told journalists that the voting "must take place despite various worries about coronavirus."

Some speculated in recent weeks that the Kremlin will initiate voting over the internet, which the opposition has slammed as a sure way to falsify the result.