Putin until 2036: in which countries the presidential terms were reset to zero and what did it lead to

Russia is not the first country to reset presidential terms. This has already been done before in other CIS countries and in South America, and in recent years - in Africa. Tells the details DW.

Photo: Shutterstock

Zeroing the presidential term will allow Vladimir Putin to be twice elected president of Russia and potentially remain at the top post in the Russian Federation until 2036. This norm, as part of a package of amendments to the constitution, according to the CEC, was approved at a vote held in Russia from June 25 to July 1. Earlier, changes were approved by the State Duma, the Federation Council and all regional parliaments, as well as agreed by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.

Russia is far from the first country where the authorities used the nullification trick to extend the powers of the current president. Thus, the constitutional limit on the number of terms of government was formally preserved, but in reality it was neglected.

Before Putin, this was recently done in Egypt by Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. In 2019, a constitutional referendum was held in this country, which increased his current presidential term from four to six years and at the same time nullified the previous one - from 2014 to 2018. Thus, Al-Sisi, like Putin, will be able to run for head of state again in 2024.

Zeroing in Peru led the president to prison

The pioneers in circumventing the constitutional limitation of the number of presidential terms by zeroing were the leaders of the countries of South America and the former USSR. In 1996, this option was used by Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus and Alberto Fujimori in Peru. Their further fate has developed in different ways.

Lukashenko, by holding a referendum on changing the basic law of the country, actually “wrote off” the first two years of his rule. And in 2004, he completely abolished presidential term limits through a plebiscite and still rules in Belarus.

Fujimori, who became the head of Peru in 1990, did not change the constitution, but in 1996 initiated the adoption of the law in the Congress controlled by him directly on the zeroing of his terms. As a result, he won the 2000 elections, in which, according to the constitution, he could not participate, but fled the country amid protests. In 2007, Interpol arrested Fujimori and extradited to his homeland, where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

On the subject: Putin until 2036: almost 80% of Russians supported amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation

Presidency to death

Some heads of state in their nullifying terms and rewriting the constitution was stopped only by death. So, in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez began to change the constitution shortly after coming to power in 1999. As a result, new presidential elections were held in the country, and already in 2001 Chavez entered into a new term of government, the first two years were, as it were, not counted. In 2009, in the spirit of Lukashenko, he abolished restrictions on the presidential term, but, having won the 2012 election, he did not take up his duties for health reasons. Hugo Chavez passed away in March 2013.

Former President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov had been head of state for 2007 years by 16. Thanks to the 1995 referendum on the extension of powers instead of elections, formally these were only two presidential terms. According to the country's constitution, he could not go to the third, but he went. The fact is that in 2002, at a constitutional referendum, the length of the presidential term was increased. And under the updated constitution, the 2007 elections became Karimov’s “first” again. Then there was another victory in the “second” in 2015 - and death in 2016.

When the president is forced to flee the country

The first president of independent Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akayev, ruled the country since 1991. In 1998, when his second term in office was coming to an end, the country's Constitutional Court clarified in response to a request from a group of deputies that Akaev could run for president again. The reason is that the constitution of independent Kyrgyzstan was adopted in 1993, after the first election of Askar Akayev, so his first term was “zero”. It is interesting that in a similar situation, the Russian Constitutional Court ruled that Boris Yeltsin would not be able to run for a third term and participate in the 2000 presidential elections.

As for Akayev, he remained in power until 2005, when the “Tulip Revolution” broke out in Kyrgyzstan with demands for his resignation. As a result, the president fled to Russia, which refused to extradite him despite the demands of the Kyrgyz Prosecutor General's Office.

Blaise Compaoré came to power in Burkina Faso in 1987 in a military coup. He subsequently won presidential elections twice. In 2000, the Burkinabe constitution was changed - now the head of state could hold this position for two terms of not 7, but 5 years each. Before the next elections, the country's Constitutional Council indicated that Compaoré's previous presidential terms were thereby nullified. So he was able to be elected for two more terms, and when, at the end of them, in 2014, he wanted to rewrite the basic law again, the Burkinabe people rebelled. As a result, Blaise Compaoré resigned and fled the country.

From resetting deadlines to lifting restrictions

The first term of the current President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon was in 1994, and the other “first” was in 2006. Between them, a constitutional referendum took place in 2003, “nullifying” his previous rule. In 2016, a special provision was prescribed for Rakhmon personally in the basic law, allowing him to run for office an unlimited number of times.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev won his first presidential election in 1991 as the only candidate on the ballot. Four years later, his presidential powers were extended by referendum until 2000. But in 2000, as the country’s Constitutional Council explained, Nazarbayev’s “first” term began again under the new 1995 Constitution of Kazakhstan.

In 2007, an exception was added to the basic law of Kazakhstan for Nursultan Nazarbayev personally as the first president - he could run for office an unlimited number of times. Which he did until he retired in March 2019 at the age of 79. At the same time, he retained the posts of head of the country's Security Council and chairman of the ruling party, and his daughter became speaker of the Kazakh parliament.

Presidents in Africa nullified in 2010

In these years, the leaders in the nullification of presidential terms were African countries. In addition to Egypt, this happened in Senegal and Burundi. Senegalese former president Abdulay Wad came to power in 2000, in 2001 he carried out a constitutional reform, limiting the number of acceptable presidential terms to two (there was no restriction before). And, having been re-elected for a second term, he assured that he would not violate these rules. But when his second term in 2012 came to an end, 85-year-old Wad said he intended to run again. The Senegal Constitutional Court dismissed the opposition’s complaint, stating that the president legally goes only for a second term after updating the constitution, not a third. However, Abdoulay Wad lost this election.

In Burundi, the president has already reset himself twice. In 2005, the head of state, Pierre Nkurunziza, was elected by parliament. Then the procedure was changed, and in 2010 he became the first president of Burundi to be elected by popular vote. Five years later, he wanted to run again, and the country's Constitutional Court allowed him to do so, de facto nullifying his first term. Some of the Burundian military rebelled and staged a coup attempt, but in the end the rebel generals were arrested, and Nkurunziza won the elections again. In 2018, Burundi adopted a new constitution, thanks to which all previous presidential terms of Pierre Nkurunziza were again nullified before the presidential elections, which were scheduled for August 2020. However, on June 8, Nkurunziza died: according to the official version, from a heart attack, although some media wrote that the cause was a new coronavirus.

The former leaders of Bolivia, Evo Morales, also joined African leaders. Having come to power in 2005, four years later he carried out a constitutional reform. When Morales already had two presidential terms, the country's Constitutional Court nullified his first period of rule, because he was before the change in the basic law of Bolivia. During the de facto third term, Morales tried to lift the restriction on the number of presidential terms, but the Bolivians voted against it. Then the Supreme Court entered the case and still lifted this restriction. As a result, Evo Morales announced his victory in the 2019 elections, but after protests fled the country. At home, he is accused of criminal offenses.

Finally, perhaps the most unusual nullification occurred in Ukraine at the beginning of the XXI century. As in Kyrgyzstan, the Ukrainian Constitutional Court considered that the first term of Leonid Kuchma could be reset, as it began before the adoption of the new constitution. But Kuchma himself did not run for president in 2004, so the potential zeroing was not actually realized.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Fox News: Trump is upset about bad ratings and may withdraw from the election if his performance doesn't improve

Media claims Russia paid Taliban for US military killings: reaction of the parties

Former MI6 agent: Britain has evidence of Trump and Putin's connection, but they are hiding

What Bolton wrote about in his memoirs, and why the White House is trying to ban their publication

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.