President Putin s Constitutional Amendments of 2020 and its impact on Russia s Power vertical : A Critical Assesment

In his Annual State of the Nation Address of 2020, while addressing the Federal Assembly, President Putin announced many constitutional amendments which he stated, should be put to a nationwide vote. President Putin’s announcement astonished most of the scholars, researchers, and world leaders that put them into deep thinking to search for the reasons behind these proposed constitutional amendments. The popular perception claims that president Putin proposed all these constitutional amendments as he wants to stay in power even after 2024. Because constitutionally President Putin has barred from running in as a candidate the next presidential election. The Russian President, on the other hand, denied these presumptions and claimed that these constitutional amendments are essential for broadening the responsibilities of the Federal Assembly, giving more decision-making power to the Regional Governors, and consolidating democracy. In short, these constitutional changes will be instrumental in bringing more checks and balances in the functioning of the three main organs of the government. Thus, keeping this background in mind, this work intends to focus on a critical analysis of President Putin’s constitutional amendments. The work will try to find answers to these two questions: first, what can be the reason behind these constitutional amendments, and second, how much these constitutional amendments will affect Russia’s power-vertical?

Keywords:
Russia, President Putin, Constitutional Amendments, and Power-Vertical.