Nikolai Kharitonov was proclaimed candidate of the Communist Party, meeting at a congress on Saturday December 23 in the Moscow region. It is therefore he who will face Vladimir Putin during the presidential election in March, as in 2004, at the head of a program which says a lot since it is called “Victory”.
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With our correspondence in Moscow, Jean-Didier Revoin
At 75 years old, Nikolai Kharitonov is a veteran of Russian political life. Already during the 2004 presidential election, he won more than 18% of the vote.
Nearly 20 years later, he will nevertheless try to keep the Communist Party’s score level. During the 2018 presidential election, he was chosen by more than 11% of voters, then led by Pavel Grudinin.
To achieve this, the party’s program is structured around two main axes, namely the nationalization of production, as well as a reinforced social policy to promote the development of science and an increase in the birth rate.
Objectives which, taking into account the sanctions, match those of Vladimir Putin. Proof that the communists remain one of the foundations of the systemic opposition, that is to say the one which can sit in Parliament with the approval of the Kremlin. And its task remains the same, to embody the social aspirations of society within the particular political game that characterizes Russia.
The question that remains unanswered is whether the communists will remain the second political force in the country.