Ekaterina Duntsova - Russia election: Putin opponent denied registration
Russia's electoral commission has refused to allow journalist Ekaterina Duntsova, a critic of the Kremlin, to register her initiative group for the presidential election on March 17. According to the commission, there were several errors in the organization of the initiative group and in the documents submitted.
Dunzowa announced that she would appeal to the Supreme Court against this "unlawful decision". She also appealed to the liberal opposition party Yabloko to nominate her as a candidate. The party announced that Duntsova was unknown.
The 40-year-old Duntsova had previously criticized Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's policies and the war against Ukraine and offered herself to voters as an alternative. She advocated a "peaceful and democratic future for Russia", she said. She would have needed the initiative group in order to obtain signatures of support to register as a candidate for the presidency. There is no time left for that now, Duntsova said.
Individual spelling mistakes interpreted as "serious errors"
A nomination by a party like Yabloko could help her. "We must not remain inactive!" She has many supporters, said Duntsova, who has almost 300,000 subscribers on the Telegram platform. According to Duntsova's supporters, individual misspellings of names were interpreted as "serious errors" in the documents.
The head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, is considered a close confidante of Putin. She said: "You are a young woman. You still have everything ahead of you. Every minus can be turned into a plus. Every experience is an experience." Russian state media had previously linked the journalist to Putin opponent Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who lives in exile and finances opposition projects in Russia.
Moscow Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov saw the election commission 's decision as a sign of fear. He said the Kremlin feared that something might not go according to plan. "How much must the power apparatus no longer be convinced of itself if it won't even allow someone like Duntsova," said the long-time editor-in-chief of the Kremlin-critical newspaper "Novaya Gazeta", which is discontinued in Russia. Duntsova is still politically unknown in Russia.
"Russia without Putin" campaign
Supporters of the imprisoned Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who has been missing for more than two weeks, launched the "Russia without Putin" campaign before the election. They are calling on people to vote for any other candidate - just not Putin.
Putin's opponents repeatedly complain that the electoral commission refuses to register candidates, citing formal errors. It is expected that candidates who do not represent serious competition for the incumbent will also be admitted to the upcoming presidential election.
The Communists represented in parliament - the State Duma - put forward 75-year-old Nikolai Kharitonov as a candidate rather than the much better-known party leader Gennady Zyuganov. The Duma party Just Russia did not put forward its own candidate this time and announced its support for Putin. The nationalist Duma party LDPR is sending its chairman Leonid Sluzki into the race as a candidate, although he himself supports Putin.
Election commission chief Pamfilova put the number of candidates interested in the presidency at 29 on Saturday. It is considered certain that Putin will also emerge victorious in his fifth presidential election. The Kremlin leader had the constitution changed specifically to be able to run again. According to the current version of the constitution, the 71-year-old can run for the last time in 2030. The presidential term of office in Russia is six years.
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- Despite being a Putin critic and advocating for peace and democracy in Russia, Ekaterina Duntsova was refused registration by the Election Commission due to alleged errors in her initiative group's organization and documents.
- Duntsova, known for her criticism of Vladimir Putin's policies and the war against Ukraine, announced her intention to appeal to the Supreme Court and sought support from the liberal opposition party Yabloko.
- The Yabloko party, however, declared that Duntsova was unknown to them, but her supporters believe that minor spelling mistakes were misconstrued as serious errors in the documents.
- The head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, is considered a close confidante of Putin and advised Duntsova to view her denied registration as an opportunity for growth.
- Russian state media has previously linked Duntsova to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Putin opponent living in exile, sparking speculation about her connections to the Kremlin.
- Moscow Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov interpreted the Election Commission's decision as a sign of fear, as the Kremlin fears a disruption of their plans during the presidential election.
- Supporters of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, missing for over two weeks, launched a "Russia without Putin" campaign, urging voters to choose any other candidate, except for Putin.
- Putin's opponents have repeatedly claimed that the Election Commission refuses to register candidates under the pretext of formal errors, allowing only those who pose no serious challenge to participate in the upcoming presidential election.
- The Communists, with 75-year-old Nikolai Kharitonov as their candidate instead of the party leader Gennady Zyuganov, are among the parties expected to participate in the election alongside Putin, who had the constitution amended to run again, as the Kremlin leader is considered the certain winner in his fifth presidential election.
Source: www.stern.de
