In Russia, the presidential election is now officially scheduled for March 17, 2024. Kremlin opponents don’t want to make it easy for President Putin to remain in office.
Kremlin opponents around the imprisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny have launched a campaign against President Vladimir Putin ahead of the presidential election on March 17th. “Russia without Putin” is the name of the campaign, in which citizens are supposed to vote for any candidate – just not for the incumbent, as the team working in exile abroad announced. In Russia there are always disputes in opposition circles as to whether an election boycott or Navalny’s line promises more success in expressing dissatisfaction with Putin.
Navalny’s supporters said that all citizens would be called upon to convince other opponents of Putin to go to the polls in the next 100 days. The Kremlin opponents also launched a website with explanations of how voting should take place. The elections are a parody. “But any election, even the most falsified ones, is a time of doubt. People think about who is in power and why,” Navalny’s team said.
The main task of the opposition and honest citizens is to address these doubts and make it clear to people that Putin is harming the country. “For Putin, the 2024 elections are a referendum on his actions, on the war,” the call said. The majority of Russians do not want to see Putin at the head of the country. “The voting results will be falsified, but our job is to make it clear to everyone that Russia no longer needs Putin.”
Navalny’s team also released a video of a large billboard erected in Putin’s hometown of St. Petersburg. It has the inscription “Russia”, congratulations on the New Year and a QR code. Anyone who downloads the code on their cell phone will be taken to the opposition’s page with the title: “Russia without Putin.”
Putin is allowed to run again – thanks to a constitutional change
In the morning, the Federation Council – the upper house of parliament – officially scheduled the presidential election for March 17, 2024. This officially begins the election campaign, said Federation Council President Valentina Matwijenko. It is expected that Putin will soon officially declare his candidacy. State television has been showing programs for days in which citizens swear loyalty to the 71-year-old Kremlin leader and promise to vote for him in the fifth candidacy.
Putin had the constitution changed in 2020 specifically in order to be able to run again. If re-elected, he can remain in office until 2030 and vote for the last time in 2036.
The polling stations will be open again for three days, as the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, announced. The organization of the vote in the Russian-occupied parts of the Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk will be decided at a later date. Ukraine continues to fight, with Western help, to wrest the annexed territories back from Russia. There will be no presidential election in Ukraine in the spring because of the war.
The Kremlin expects a record result for Putin in the election, which is dominated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The president presents himself as a champion against the USA’s desire for supremacy and against NATO’s eastward expansion. The stylization of the West as an enemy against which Putin is fighting has caught the attention of many Russians. Other possible candidates are considered to have no chance. In the 2018 vote, Putin received 76.69 percent of the vote.
Opponents lack signatures
Liberal opposition politician Grigory Yavlinsky, who calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine and peace negotiations, has declared his willingness to take part in the election again. However, the 71-year-old stated that the prerequisite was that he could collect at least ten million supporter signatures. With currently around 20,000 signatures, he is a long way from that. In the 2018 election he received 1.05 percent of the vote.
The Kremlin traditionally seeks to organize a field of presidential candidates before elections to create the appearance of selection and competition for Putin. However, the candidates nominated by various parliamentary parties are generally considered to have no chance at all.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
