Madam, - A front-page report in your edition of December 3rd states that a two-thirds majority in the lower house of the Russian parliament would allow President Putin's United Russia party to "change the constitution at will". The situation is far more complicated than that.
Changes in articles of the Russian constitution involving the rights of the citizen require that a Constitutional Assembly be called by a three-fifths majority in the upper and lower houses. The Assembly may then put the proposed changes to the people in a referendum.
Changes to other articles, including a proposal to allow the president to stand for a third term or for greater powers to devolve on the prime minister, require the approval of "two thirds of the subjects of the Russian Federation". This includes regions, territories, ethnic republics and the metropolitan areas of Moscow and St Petersburg. There are 87 of these in all. - Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS MARTIN,
Dublin 8.