Navalny launches "Russia without Putin" campaign

The Kremlin critic Navalny's team is starting the Russian presidential election with the motto "We have no chance, so let's seize it". With the "Russia without Putin" campaign, the opposition members want to sow doubt - especially about the war in Ukraine.

Opponents of the Kremlin led by imprisoned Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny have launched a campaign against head of state Vladimir Putin ahead of the presidential election on March 17. "Russia without Putin" is the name of the campaign, in which citizens are asked to vote for any candidate - just not for the incumbent, as the team working in exile abroad announced this afternoon. According to Navalny's supporters, all citizens are being called upon to persuade other opponents of Putin to vote in the next 100 days.

The Kremlin's opponents also launched a website with explanations on how to vote. The elections are a parody. "But any elections, even the most rigged ones, are a time of doubt. People think about who is in power and why," Navalny's team continued. The main task of the opposition and honest citizens is to address these doubts and make people realize that Putin is harming the country. "For Putin, the 2024 elections are a referendum on his actions, on the war," the appeal said.

The majority of Russians do not want to see Putin at the head of the country. "The results of the vote will be falsified, but our task is to make it clear to everyone that Russia no longer needs Putin." Navalny's team also published a video of a large billboard erected in Putin's home city of St. Petersburg. It reads "Russia", congratulations for the New Year and a QR code. Anyone who downloads the code on their cell phone will be taken to the opposition's page entitled "Russia without Putin".

Election campaign has officially begun

This morning, the Federation Council - the upper house of parliament - officially scheduled the presidential election for March 17, 2024. This marks the official start of the election campaign, said Federation Council head Valentina Matviyenko. It is assumed that Putin will soon officially declare his expected candidacy. State television has already been showing programs for days in which citizens swear allegiance to the 71-year-old Kremlin leader and pledge to vote for him in his fifth candidacy.

Putin had the constitution amended in 2020 specifically so that he could run again. If he is re-elected, he can remain in office until 2030 and contest the vote for the last time in 2036. Polling stations are to be open again for three days, according to the head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova. The Kremlin is expecting 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 quest for supremacy and against the eastward expansion of NATO.

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Despite Putin's expected candidacy for the presidential election, Navalny's team has launched a campaign called "Russia without Putin," encouraging citizens to vote against him in the March 17 election. This action comes in response to Putin's involvement in the Attack on Ukraine, a topic likely to cause doubt among Russian voters. The Kremlin, led by Vladimir Putin, has been criticized by Navalny, who is currently imprisoned.

Navalny's team, operating from exile, has asked Russian citizens to vote for any candidate other than Putin in the upcoming election. They aim to capitalize on the opportunity to sow doubt, particularly regarding the conflict in Ukraine, and encourage their supporters to persuade other Putin opponents to participate in the election.

Amidst the election campaign, the opposition has created a website to guide Russians on how to vote, hoping to exploit any doubt surrounding the election process and address the concerns of those who disapprove of Putin's leadership in Russia.

Source: www.ntv.de