Former television journalist Yekaterina Duntsova was disqualified on Saturday as a candidate for Russia’s upcoming presidential election, preventing her from running against Vladimir Putin on a platform of opposition to the war in Ukraine.
Members of the central election commission voted unanimously to reject his candidacy, citing “numerous violations” in the documents he had submitted in support of his candidacy.
Putin’s critics said the decision showed that no one with genuine opposition views would be allowed to run against him next March in the first presidential election since the start of the 22-month war.
They see it as a false process with only one possible outcome.
The Kremlin says Putin will win because he enjoys genuine support across society, with opinion ratings in polls around 80%.
Duntsova, 40, said on Telegram that she would challenge the decision at the Supreme Court, calling it unjustified and undemocratic.
“With this political decision, we are deprived of the opportunity to have our own representative and express opinions that differ from the official aggressive discourse,” he said.
The Kremlin says Putin will win because he enjoys genuine support across society, with opinion ratings in polls around 80%. ZUMAPRESS.com
Separately, Russian media said Boris Nadezhdin, an opposition politician who has been critical of Putin and the war, was put forward as a candidate on Saturday by the center-right Civic Initiative party.
They said he planned to register with the electoral commission on December 25.
‘EVERYTHING AHEAD OF YOU’
The head of the electoral commission, Ella Pamfilova, offered words of comfort to Duntsova after her rejection.
In another development, Russian media said Boris Nadezhdin, an opposition politician who has been critical of Putin and the war, was put forward as a candidate on Saturday by the center-right Civic Initiative party. They said he planned to register with the electoral commission on December 25.
“You are a young woman, you have everything ahead of you. Any inconvenience can always be turned into a plus. “Any experience is still an experience,” Pamfilova said.
Duntsova said she would challenge the decision at the Supreme Court, calling it unjustified and undemocratic. REUTERS
Screenshots posted by a Telegram channel representing Duntsova showed documents with signatures that it said the commission had called inadmissible.
Duntsova appealed to veteran liberal politician Grigory Yavlinsky to let her run as a representative of his Yabloko party rather than as an independent candidate, which would allow her to apply again.
But Yavlinsky said in an interview on a YouTube channel that Yabloko did not plan to field a candidate and would not support Duntsova “because we don’t know her.”
When Duntsova said last month that she wanted to run, commentators described her as crazy, brave or part of a plan written by the Kremlin to create the appearance of competition.
“Any sane person who takes this step would be afraid, but fear must not win,” he told Reuters in an interview in November in which he called for the release of political prisoners and said Russians were “very tired” of the conflict in Ukraine.
BELARUS SCENARIO
Abbas Gallyamov, a former Kremlin speechwriter now labeled by authorities as a “foreign agent,” said Putin had not wanted to take the same risk as Alexander Lukashenko.
The Belarusian leader clung to power in 2020 only with the help of what the opposition and Western governments said was large-scale electoral fraud to allow him to claim victory over opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
“The Tsikhanouskaya effect is absolutely possible and the Kremlin understands it,” Gallyamov wrote on Telegram.
Duntsova said last month that she wanted to run; Commentators had variously described her as crazy, brave or part of a plan written by the Kremlin to create the appearance of competition. AFP via Getty Images
Anastasia Burakova, a lawyer and human rights activist also recently appointed as a foreign agent, said the disqualification showed that the authorities were determined that “not a single competitor who could overshadow support for Putin and the war should be in the public arena.” .
With Putin, 71, in full control of the levers of power, both his supporters and opponents say he will reach a new six-year term that, if completed, would make him Russia’s longest-serving ruler. since the 18th century, with all Soviet rulers surviving, including Josef Stalin.
His best-known opponent, Alexei Navalny, is serving prison sentences totaling more than 30 years and his supporters say they don’t even know where he is after being told he had been transferred from his former penal colony earlier this month. . Lawyers last had access to him on December 6.
One of the nominal opposition parties in parliament, the Just Russia – For Truth party, said on Saturday it would support Putin in the election, the state RIA news agency reported.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party, which has come a distant second to Putin in every election since 2000, named Nikolai Kharitonov, 75, as its candidate.
With Putin in full control of the levers of power, both his supporters and opponents say he will head for a new six-year term that, if completed, would make him Russia’s longest-serving ruler since the 18th century. , surpassing all Soviet rulers, including Joseph Stalin. Via REUTERS
Kharitonov previously ran in 2004 and won 14% of the vote to Putin’s 71%. The TASS news agency quoted him as saying that he would find no fault with the Kremlin leader.
“He is responsible for his own work cycle, why should I criticize him?” Kharitonov said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn