Three candidates face Vladimir Putin for the Russian presidential election which takes place from March 15 to 17, but the current president is guaranteed to win this new mandate.
The Russian presidential election began this Friday March 15 and will end Sunday March 17. The nationalist Leonid Sloutsky, the communist Nikolai Kharitonov and the businessman Vladislav Davankov are candidates against Vladimir Putin, but all support the Kremlin regime. The current president, in power since 1999, is assured of winning these elections.
Leonid Sloutski, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Duma, lower house of parliament, predicted “a huge victory” for Vladimir Putin, and said he was “not going to call for a vote” against him. Nikolai Kharitonov, who had already presented himself in 2004, focused his program on proposals which match those of the Russian president: he says he is in favor of an increase in the birth rate and wants to increase the nationalization of production. According to him, Vladimir Putin “is trying to consolidate the nation with a view to victory in all areas. And that is what will happen,” he told the BBC.
Same thing for the last candidate, Vladislav Davankov, who defends a liberal point of view, but differentiates himself from his competitors on the subject of the war in Ukraine. He says he wants to be “for peace”, but “from our conditions”. He is also the only one to have supported the candidacy of Boris Nadezhdine, openly opposed to the invasion of Ukraine. The latter was ultimately prevented from running, as was Ekaterina Dountsova. The Central Electoral Commission, which must prepare the ground for a re-election of Vladimir Putin, justified this decision by citing “errors” in their files. The three candidates facing Putin have therefore all been validated by the Kremlin.
Opponents imprisoned or exiled
Real opponents of the regime are trying to make themselves heard, without having the power to prevent the re-election of the current Russian president. Some are currently serving heavy sentences, such as Vladimir Kara-Mourza, for “high treason”, Ilia Iachine for disseminating “false information”, or more recently Oleg Orlov, for having denounced the assault on Ukraine.
Other opponents of the regime were forced into exile. Mikhail Khodorkovsky now lives in London, after serving a ten-year prison sentence in Siberia for “fraud” and “tax evasion”. Yulia Navalnaïa, widow of Alexeï Navalny, is a refugee in Germany. She says she wants to “continue the work” of her husband and calls for following the “Noon against Putin” movement which consists of going to vote on the last day of the elections at noon. A symbolic initiative which will have no consequences on the ballot.