Former TV 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 against the war in Ukraine.
Members of the central election commission voted unanimously to reject his candidacy, citing “numerous violations” in the papers he submitted in support of his bid.
Putin’s critics say the result shows that no one with genuine opposition views will 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 polls rating around 80%.
Duntsova, 40, said on Telegram that she would challenge the decision in the Supreme Court, calling it unjustified and undemocratic.
“With this political decision, we lost the opportunity to have our own representatives and express different views from the official aggressive discourse,” he said.
The Kremlin says Putin will win because he enjoys genuine support across society, with opinion polls rating around 80%. ZUMAPRESS.com
In a separate development, Russian news outlets said Boris Nadezhdin, an opposition politician critical of Putin and the war, was put forward as a candidate on Saturday by the centrist Civic Initiative party.
They said he plans to register with the election commission on Dec 25.
‘EVERYTHING IS IN FRONT OF YOU’
The head of the election commission, Ella Pamfilova, offered words of comfort to Duntsova after her rejection.
In a separate development, Russian news outlets said Boris Nadezhdin, an opposition politician critical of Putin and the war, was put forward as a candidate on Saturday by the center-right Civic Initiative party. They said he plans to register with the election commission on Dec 25.
“You are a young woman, you have everything in front of you. Any minus can always be turned into a plus. Any experience remains an experience,” said Pamfilova.
Duntsova said she would challenge the decision in the Supreme Court, calling it unjustified and undemocratic. Reuters
A screenshot posted by the Telegram channel representing Duntsova shows a document with a signature that the commission says has been marked as inadmissible.
Duntsova appealed to veteran liberal politician Grigory Yavlinsky to allow her to run as a representative of her Yabloko party instead of as an independent candidate, which would allow her to submit a new application.
But Yavlinsky said in an interview on the YouTube channel that Yabloko does not plan to put up a candidate and will not support Duntsova “because we do not know her”.
When Duntsova said last month that she wanted to stand, commentators described her as crazy, brave, or part of a scripted Kremlin plan to create the appearance of competition.
“Any sane person taking 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 did not want to risk the same scenario as Alexander Lukashenko.
The Belarusian leader clung to power in 2020 only with the help of what the opposition and Western government say was large-scale vote fraud to allow him to claim victory over opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
“The Tsikhanouskaya effect is really possible, and in the Kremlin they understand it,” Gallyamov wrote on Telegram.
Duntsova said last month that she wanted to stand down, commentators have described her as crazy, brave, or part of a scripted Kremlin plan to create the appearance of competition. AFP via Getty Images
Anastasia Burakova, a lawyer and human rights activist who was also recently appointed as a foreign agent, said the disqualification shows the authorities are determined that “no competitor can overshadow support for Putin and the war should be in the public arena.”
With Putin, 71, in full control of the levers of power, supporters and opponents alike say he will seek a new six-year term that, if he completes, would make him Russia’s longest-serving ruler since the 18th century – lasting even longer. all Soviet rulers including Josef Stalin.
His most famous opponent, Alexei Navalny, is serving more than 30 years in prison and his supporters say they do not know where he is after they were told he had been moved from his previous penal colony earlier this month. The lawyer last had access to him on Dec. 6.
One of the nominal opposition parties in parliament, the A Just Russia – For Truth party, said on Saturday it would support Putin in the election, state news agency RIA reported.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party, which has finished a distant second behind Putin in every election since 2000, named 75-year-old Nikolai Kharitonov as its candidate.
With Putin in full control of the levers of power, supporters and opponents alike say he will seek a new six-year term that, if he completes, will make him Russia’s longest-serving ruler since the 18th century – surpassing all Soviet rulers including Josef Stalin. via REUTERS
Kharitonov stood before in 2004 and won 14% of the vote to Putin’s 71%. The TASS news agency quoted him as saying he would not find fault with the Kremlin leader.
“He is responsible for his own work cycle, why am I criticizing him?” Kharitonov said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
