20 Jan 2020 20:56

Amendments to Constitution to be put to public vote following approval by State Duma, Federation Council - Krasheninnikov

MOSCOW. Jan 20 (Interfax) - Head of the State Duma State Building and Legislation Committee Pavel Krasheninnikov has clarified the procedure for endorsing the bill on constitutional amendments.

"Today, the text, to which amendments will be added for a second reading, was submitted. We have plenty of proposals; in particular, the issue concerning a Russian nationwide vote. It is clear that it is necessary to perfect this process, and we will come up with this procedure," Krasheninnikov told reporters on Monday.

"This procedure implies that amendments are to be approved by two thirds of State Duma deputies and three quarters of Federation Council members, and no less than two thirds of the constituent territories of the Russian Federation are to back them via legislative assemblies," he said.

"Preliminarily, we think that a public vote will be held following a vote in the Russian Federation's constituent territories. The enactment of these amendments will be linked precisely to this public vote. It is most likely that it will be a step-by-step enactment, considering that constitutional bodies are already functioning," Krasheninnikov said.