1993 Russian Constitutional Referendum on:
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A constitutional referendum was held in
Country Studies He called for a new constitution which would grant more powers to the President. However, two competing drafts of a new constitution were drawn up by the government and the Congress of People's Deputies. Failure of the two groups to reach a compromise led to Yeltsin dissolving the Congress of People's Deputies in September 1993, leading to a
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
on 12 December 1993. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1642 The new constitution was approved by 58.4% of voters, and came into force on 25 December.
Background
Since 1992, PresidentBoris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
had been arguing that the 1978 constitution was obsolete and needed replacing.The Constitution and Government StructureCountry Studies He called for a new constitution which would grant more powers to the President. However, two competing drafts of a new constitution were drawn up by the government and the Congress of People's Deputies. Failure of the two groups to reach a compromise led to Yeltsin dissolving the Congress of People's Deputies in September 1993, leading to a
constitutional crisis
In political science, a constitutional crisis is a problem or conflict in the function of a government that the political constitution or other fundamental governing law is perceived to be unable to resolve. There are several variations to this ...
.
Yeltsin then called a Constitutional Assembly that was sympathetic to his views. The Assembly subsequently drafted a constitution that provided for a strong presidency, and was published on 11 November.Richard Sakwa (2008) ''Russian politics and society'' Taylor & Francis, p64
Name
This referendum was officially named "nationwide voting" (russian: всенародное голосование, vsenarodnoye golosovaniye) in documents. Translated:Results
Voter turnout was officially reported as 54.4%,Nohlen & Stöver, p1648 over the 50% threshold required to validate the referendum. However, doubts remained over the accuracy of the turnout figure, exacerbated by the quick destruction of ballots and area tallies.By region
References
{{Russian elections Referendums in Russia 1993 referendums 1993 in Russia 1993 elections in Russia Constitutional referendums December 1993 events in Russia 1993 Russian constitutional crisis