75-year-old communist runs against Putin
Putin's re-election in the 2024 presidential election in Russia is considered a formality. Nevertheless, the communists are nominating their own candidate. Nikolai Kharitonov is theoretically an opposition figure, but in fact he supports Putin's policies. A Kremlin critic, on the other hand, is not allowed to run.
The Russian Communist Party has nominated political veteran Nikolai Kharitonov as its candidate for the presidential election in March. The candidacy of the 75-year-old Kharitonov was "supported by the overwhelming majority of participants in a secret ballot" at a party meeting near Moscow, explained Alexander Yushchenko, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communists, according to the Interfax news agency.
Kharitonov, who had already run for the presidency in 2004, has virtually no chance against the incumbent President Vladimir Putin. The latter is running for his sixth mandate in the election. His re-election is considered a formality, meaning Putin's term of office would be extended until 2030.
In theory, the Russian Communists are an opposition party, but in practice they support the Kremlin's policies. Kharitonov, who has now been chosen as a candidate, told journalists with regard to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine that his party's task was to "consolidate the people in the election campaign" so that there would be "victory on all fronts". His program bears the name "Victory", he said.
Candidate critical of the Kremlin not admitted
Kharitonov received just under 14 percent of the vote in his first candidacy in 2004. He has been a member of the Russian State Duma since 1993 and has belonged to the Communists since 2008. After the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he was sanctioned by the EU, the USA and Canada.
For the first time in 20 years, the Communists' candidate in the presidential election is no longer 79-year-old party leader Gennady Zyuganov, who has led the party since 1993. Several candidates close to Putin have already been admitted to the election scheduled for March 17 next year - including the former deputy head of the Duma, Sergei Baburin. The founder of the liberal opposition party Yabloko, Grigory Yavlinsky, declared on YouTube that his party would not put up a candidate.
The journalist Yekaterina Duntsova, who is critical of the Kremlin, was not admitted to the election. According to the central election commission in Moscow, there had been several errors in the organization of the 40-year-old's initiative group and in the documents submitted.
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Despite the Russian Communist Party nominating Nikolai Kharitonov as their presidential candidate for March, his chances against incumbent President Vladimir Putin are slim, given Putin's re-election is seen as a formality and would extend his term until 2030. Kharitonov, a supporter of Putin's policies, stated that his party's task was to consolidate the people during the election to ensure victory on all fronts, even referencing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Contrarily, a journalist critical of the Kremlin, Yekaterina Duntsova, was denied admission to the election due to organizational errors and document inconsistencies by the central election commission in Moscow.
Source: www.ntv.de
