On July 1, Russian citizens will be voting to approve amendments to the 1993 constitution, proposed by Vladimir Putin in January, planned for a vote in April and postponed to the summer as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. If adopted, the main change will be to allow Putin to stay in power after the end of his second consecutive—and fourth total—mandate, possibly up to 2036, when he is going to be 84 years old. This “president for life” perspective was widely criticized in the West, as well as by some in Russia. Yet, it remains just one option among many: the Russian president could also use that long horizon to hand off power to someone else without becoming a lame duck.
