Russia has begun voting on constitutional reforms that could allow President Putin to serve until 2036. So what would another decade and a half of Putinism mean for Russia – and for us?
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Russians head to the polls tomorrow to vote on whether to change the constitution. The result? A forgone conclusion. The vote? International observers banned. And it will mean, in essence that Vladimir Putin – who has led Russia for the last two decades – gets to do it all again. He could potentially be in office until 2036. Whether it be the assassination of Alexander Litvinyenko on British soil , the attempt on the Skripals life in Salisbury or alleged interference in our elections, Putinism has played no small part in the lives of us all. So are we ready for a whole lot more? Our International Editor Gabriel Gatehouse has been reporting on Russia since the beginning of Putin’s reign.
BBC Newsnight is a programme carried by the BBC in the UK, which is described as “Comprehensive coverage of today’s important national and international news stories.”
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin is a Russian politician and a former officer of the KGB who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously holding the position from 1999 until 2008. He was also the Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south.
Russia spans more than one-eighth of the Earth’s inhabited land area, stretching eleven time zones, and bordering 16 sovereign nations. Moscow is the country’s capital.
The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 and since 1993 Russia been governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Russia is a major great power, with the world’s second-most powerful military, and the fourth-highest military expenditure. As a recognised nuclear-weapon state, the country possesses the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.
Vladimir Putin is a Russian politician and a former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, previously being in the office from 1999 until 2008. He was also Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012.
Voting is a method for a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, in order to make a collective decision or express an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holders of high office by voting. Residents of a place represented by an elected official are called “constituents”, and those constituents who cast a ballot for their chosen candidate are called “voters”. There are different systems for collecting votes, but while many of the systems used in decision-making can also be used as electoral systems, any which cater for proportional representation can only be used in elections.
In smaller organizations, voting can occur in different ways. Formally via ballot to elect others for example within a workplace, to elect members of political associations or to choose roles for others. Informally voting could occur as a spoken agreement or as a verbal gesture like a raised hand or electronically.
