MOSCOW • Russian President Vladimir Putin has 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. Mr Putin's signature last Saturday triggered 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 Mr Putin's constitutional limit on terms in power.
The law will then be voted on by the Russian public.
A spokesman at the constitutional court told Agence France-Presse last Saturday 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 Senate Speaker Valentina Matvienko last Saturday told journalists that the voting "must take place despite worries about coronavirus".
Some had 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.
Mr Putin, 67, stunned the country last Tuesday when he backed a last-minute proposal to add a condition to the reform package for his possible return to the Kremlin after 2024, when he is constitutionally required to step down.
The measure, added on the day when the Lower House State Duma was voting for the reforms, was swiftly passed and the Bill subsequently sailed through the Upper House and regional Parliaments.
The Russian leader had proposed changing the Constitution in January, but until last week denied that he was seeking to extend his rule. His spokesman said Mr Putin changed his mind due to global instability.
Separately, Moscow police have detained dozens of people at a protest against "political repressions" near the headquarters of the Russian security service, FSB, including a human rights activist.
Saturday's protest to demand the freeing of political prisoners was called by supporters of men convicted earlier this year on terrorism charges. Many of them said in court that they were tortured by the FSB.
The OVD Info website, which tracks detentions at political protests, listed 49 people as detained by police, adding that some were hurt in the altercations. An AFP correspondent at the scene saw about 30 detentions.
Some at the protest also spoke out against the planned constitutional reforms.
"The authorities are using targeted repressions in order to rule forever," said leftist politician Sergei Udaltsov.
"We are seeing an attempt to overthrow the constitutional regime, to reset the (presidential) term limits. Solidarity is more important than ever," he told AFP prior to being arrested.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
