Marathon vote on extending Putin's rule begins amid coronavirus crisis

Russians began voting on Thursday in a poll that could enable President Vladimir Putin to stay in power until 2036 if re-elected, Reuters reported.

If, as expected, the constitutional changes are approved, Putin will be eligible to run for two more back-to-back six-year terms after his current one expires in 2024, the report added.

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Putin says he has yet to decide whether to run.

Critics called the process a constitutional coup while ome voters said Putin had earlier suggested this term would be his last as president and accused him of a U-turn.

"This man (Putin) is changing his mind very quickly. First he was saying one thing and then another. Even my family have stopped supporting him, especially after the quarantine. People have just lost faith in the man,” said Maria, a Moscow student.

Others said Putin had earned the right to run again.

"In many countries, for example in Germany, there is no legal limit on the number of presidential terms," said Konstantin Korzinin, a state employee in Moscow. "The most important thing for a leader is that they govern well. I think the guarantor of our constitution is doing a good job."

The vote is on a large bundle of constitutional changes, already approved by parliament and the Constitutional Court, which the Kremlin says are needed to strengthen the role of parliament, improve social policy, and lock in stability.

With state media supporting Putin, and the president facing no immediate threat from a divided opposition, the vote is expected to go his way despite rising unemployment and the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

The central bank forecasts a 4%-6% GDP drop this year, while the International Monetary Fund projects a 6.6% decline.

State pollster VTsIOM has forecast that 67% to 71% of voters will endorse the changes.

Pictures on social media showed a polling station set up in the back of a car in Vladivostok and people voting in a bus in the town of Tver, while a journalist for TV Rain, which often criticises the Kremlin, filmed himself voting once at a polling station and again electronically.

Opposition politician Alexei Navalny has called for a boycott. "Voting on the amendments is illegal, pointless and dangerous for your health," Navalny wrote before the vote.

(With inputs from Reuters)