Putin signs law that allows him to Rule Russia beyond 2024.

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, today signed the law on constitutional amendments that allows him to remain in power beyond 2024, by granting him the right to run for reelection.

The new Russia constitution amendments open up the possibility for Putin to remain in the Kremlin until 2036 since they have broken the current rules that barred a president from running for reelection after serving two six-year terms. Putin’s two six-year terms come to an end in 2024

Putin, who will be 83 in 2036, has been at the helm of Russia’s Governance since 2000, having held the post of President of the Republic for four terms.

But between 2008 and 2012, he held the post of prime minister, in a move that was aimed at avoiding violation of the nation’s laws which allowed him only two consecutive terms, having been replaced by Dmitri Medvedev, a mere political protégé of his.

Vladimir Putin signed the law on constitutional amendments after the Russian Federation Council, which functions as a Senate, gave the constitutional amendments the green light today during an extraordinary plenary session.

On Wednesday, the proposed amendments had been passed, definitively, in the Lower Chamber of the Russian Parliament.

The law will now be sent to the Constitutional Court, which has seven days to rule on it.

Once the process is completed, the law shall be enacted by Vladimir Putin who is keen on having a national vote on the issue held on 22nd of April.

On Tuesday, the nation’s opposition announced protests under the slogan “Russia without Putin “that are expected to take place within the next ten days.

The opposition, including its leader, Alexeï Navalny, vigorously denounced the constitutional review, stating that it was a move by the President to remain in power indefinitely.

Announced in January by the President, this is the first revision of the Constitution since its adoption in 1993 and is considered a way to prepare for post-2024, the date on which Putin’s second presidential term ends.

Some of the proposals put forward by Vladimir Putin include; The Russian President wants the Constitution to include a reference to “faith in God”, to establish that marriage is only between a man and a woman and to prohibit parts of Russian territory from being ceded to foreign states. The move prevents any negotiations on Crimea, disputed with Ukraine, and on the Kuril Islands, disputed with Japan, and would criminalize any independentist proposal or suggestion.

The proposal is seen as another approximation to the conservatism of the Russian Orthodox Church.

In Russia, homosexuality was criminalized until 1993 and classified as a mental illness until 1999. In 2013, a law banned the spread of “gay propaganda” among young people. And the Russian government has been the target of numerous complaints about the way it treats LGBT + people in its country. Under the gay propaganda law, pride marches are prohibited, and several activists have been arrested.