Former television journalist Yekaterina Duntsova has been banned from running against incumbent Vladimir Putin in the Russian presidential elections. The official reason is errors in their registration application. Duntsova wanted to advocate an end to the war in Ukraine and the release of political prisoners (see video above).
Dunzowa would have needed an initiative group to collect signatures in support. According to their supporters, individual letter conversions in names were interpreted as “serious errors” in the documents. The head of the election commission, Ella Pamfilova, is known as a close confidante of Russian President Vladimir Putin. She told Dunzowa, “You are a young woman, you still have everything ahead of you. Every minus can be turned into a plus. Every experience is an experience.”
Connection with Putin opponents?
Russian state media had previously linked the journalist to Putin’s opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who lives in exile. Critics see the negative decision as proof that no one with oppositional views should be allowed to run for office against Putin in the presidential elections.
The Russian Communist Party has now appointed Nikolai Charitonov as its candidate. The 75-year-old was said to have been elected “in a secret ballot by an overwhelming majority (…)”. Kharitonov had already run for president in 2004 and received almost 14 percent of the votes. In theory, the Russian communists are an opposition party, but in practice they support the Kremlin’s policies. Kharitonov has already said that his program is called “Victory” – this is necessary “on all fronts.” The communist is subject to sanctions from the EU, US and Canada.
Candidates close to Putin conceded
Candidates close to Putin have already been approved for the March elections. Among them is the former deputy head of the State Duma, Sergei Baburin. However, the liberal opposition party Jabloko announced that it would not nominate anyone. Putin is already applying for his sixth mandate.
Source: Krone
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