Zyuganov's Communist Party had earlier opposed a "strong presidency", and Zyuganov criticized the "excessive" concentration of executive power afforded by the constitution adopted by Russia in 1993. However, during his 1996 campaign, he advocated neither replacing the existing constitution by revolution or by calling a new constitutional convention. Instead, he desired to modify the existing constitution by amending it according to its rules. However, the political reality of achieving this made it relatively unlikely, as the constitution's amendment process is difficult.