2008 amendments to the Constitution of Russia
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The amendments of 2008, which were proposed in November 2008 and came into force on 31 December 2008, were the first substantial amendments to the
Constitution of Russia The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication, and abolished the Soviet system of gov ...
of 1993.David Nowak
Putin's return? Russian parliament may allow it
''
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
'', 6 November 2008.
The amendments extended the terms of the
President of Russia The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
and the State Duma from four to six and five years. Earlier only minor adjustments concerning the naming of the
federal subjects The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...
or their merging were made, which require a much simpler procedure.


History

President Dmitry Medvedev, who succeeded
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
earlier that year, made that brief proposal during his first annual address to the Federal Assembly on 5 November 2008: The change doesn't apply retroactively and shouldn't affect the current terms of the President and the State Duma and will take effect for the next time.State Duma Voted for President’s Term Extension
. ''
Kommersant ''Kommersant'' (russian: Коммерсантъ, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia ...
'', 19 November 2008.
As of 2008, the articles 81.1 and 96.1 of the Constitution of 1993 stipulated that the President and the State Duma should be elected for a term of four years. According to the articles 136 and 108, amendments to the provisions of Chapters 3–8, including the articles 81 and 96, require the same approval as a federal constitutional law, that is, a two-thirds supermajority vote in the State Duma, the lower house and a three-fourths supermajority vote in the
Federation Council The Federation Council (russian: Сове́т Федера́ции – ''Soviet Federatsii'', common abbreviation: Совфед – ''Sovfed''), or Senate (officially, starting from July 1, 2020) ( ru , Сенат , translit = Senat), is th ...
, the
upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...
, and come into force as they have passed the Regional legislatures of no less than two-thirds of the 83
federal subjects The federal subjects of Russia, also referred to as the subjects of the Russian Federation (russian: субъекты Российской Федерации, subyekty Rossiyskoy Federatsii) or simply as the subjects of the federation (russian ...
. The President formally submitted the bill to the State Duma on 11 November. The State Duma, dominated by pro-government parties after the election of 2007, swiftly approved the proposal in the three required readings on 14 November (388 in favor/58 against), 19 November (351 in favor/57 against) and 21 November (392 in favor/57 against). Of the four parties represented in the State Duma, only the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
, represented by 57 members of parliament, opposed the bill. The
United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Russian conservative political party. As the largest party in Russia, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma , havin ...
, Liberal Democratic Party and Fair Russia all supported the bill. Viktor Ilyukhin, a Communist legislator, commented during discussions in the State Duma on 14 November: The fractured opposition outside the parliament also condemned the proposed changes to the constitution. On 26 November the Federation Council approved the bill with 144 votes in favor and one against.
Yulia Latynina Yulia Leonidovna Latynina (russian: Ю́лия Леони́довна Латы́нина; born 16 June 1966) is a Russian writer and journalist. She is a columnist for ''Novaya Gazeta'' and the most popular host at the Echo of Moscow radio stat ...
, journalist for ''
The Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
'', speculated that the reform prefigures Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin, probably earlier than in May 2012, when Medvedev's term is set to expire. An unnamed official from the Presidential Executive Office cited by ''
Vedomosti ''Vedomosti'' ( rus, Ведомости, p=ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ, ) is a Russian-language business daily newspaper published in Moscow. History ''Vedomosti'' was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between Dow Jones, who publishes ''The Wall ...
'' hinted that Medvedev could resign as early as in 2009.Мария Цветкова, Надежда Иваницкая, Ирина Резник, Наталья Костенко
Шесть лет Путину
Ведомости, №210 (2232), 6 November 2008.
According to ''Vedomostis source, the alleged plan was masterminded by
Vladislav Surkov Vladislav Yuryevich Surkov (russian: Владислав Юрьевич Сурков; born 21 September 1962 or 1964) is a Russian politician and businessman. He was First Deputy Chief of the Russian Presidential Administration from 1999 to 20 ...
in 2007. A survey held by
VTsIOM Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM or VCIOM) ( rus, Всероссийский центр изучения общественного мнения – ВЦИОМ, Vserossiysky tsentr izucheniya obshchestvennogo mneniya) is a state-ow ...
on 15–16 November showed 56% support of a longer presidency and extended term of parliament among the Russians. The support, however, was lower in big cities.Поправки в Конституцию: две трети россиян – за!
. ВЦИОМ. Пресс-выпуск №1100. 21 November 2008.
By 18 December the provincial legislatures of all 83 federal subjects of Russia had approved the amendments. The Federation Council reviewed and accepted the approvals on 22 December and on 30 December President Medvedev signed them into law. The amendments were published in '' Rossiyskaya Gazeta'' and hence came into force on 31 December 2008.


References

{{Dmitry Medvedev Political history of Russia Law of Russia Dmitry Medvedev Amendments to the Constitution of Russia Amendments to the Constitution Amendments to the Constitution of Russia November 2008 events in Russia