As of: February 6, 2024, 10:37 p.m
By: Victoria Krumbeck
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Split
It is unclear whether Putin's only potential rival, Nadezhdin, will take part in the 2024 presidential elections.
He could thwart Putin's plans.
Moscow – Russian President Vladimir Putin could be elected president for the fifth time in March 2024.
His re-election is actually considered certain, but in the background of his campaign the liberal politician Boris Nadezhdin is becoming increasingly popular.
Now the Russian election commission is said to have found discrepancies in his application documents.
Does Putin want to eliminate his only competitor?
Russia elections 2024: Putin's competitor Nadezhdin thwarted
A Central Election Commission working group claimed on February 5 that 15 percent of the signatures submitted by Nadezhdin to register as an election candidate were forged, the AFP news agency reported, citing Nadezhdin's statements.
The electoral authority is said to have recommended that the Kremlin critic not be registered as a candidate.
Boris Nadezhdin (r.) wants to challenge incumbent President Vladimir Putin (l.) in the 2024 Russian presidential elections.
© Photomontage Alexander Kazakov/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/Dmitry Serebryakov/dpa
To be eligible to run in the presidential election, a candidate supported by a political party must submit 100,000 signatures to the electoral authority.
The error rate must not exceed five percent.
The politician is said to have submitted the required number of signatures on January 31st.
Now he has to get 4,500 of the 9,209 objectionable signatures recognized again in order to be registered.
“We plan to get these signatures back,” the liberal politician wrote on his Telegram channel on Monday (February 5).
Presidential elections in Russia: Nadezhdin too strong for Putin?
– Kremlin is worried
As the Think Thank
Institute for the Study of War
(ISW) reported on February 5, Nadezhdin explained that the election commission had to accept him as a presidential candidate because of his popularity.
An earlier assessment by the ISW stated that Nadezhdin's candidacy may have been intended by the Kremlin.
The Kremlin could use the presidential election as an unofficial referendum on the Ukraine war, in which a Putin victory could simultaneously be portrayed as an endorsement of war.
The election commission's announcement suggests that the Kremlin plan backfired.
According to the ISW, the Kremlin could be worried about too many votes for the liberal politician.
Nadezhdin, who wants to run for the “Civic Initiative” party, had criticized the war of aggression against Ukraine in the past.
If the gap between the two candidates was too small, it could become apparent that the population in Russia is against the war and Putin's plan will not work.
Elections in Russia: Decision on Nadezhdin's registration still pending
“Requiring valid signatures is the logical mechanism for ending Nadezhdin’s presidential campaign, regardless of whether the Kremlin was initially willing to tolerate the campaign or not,” the institute wrote.
There were also previous efforts by Russian officials to try to discredit Nadezhdin.
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A final decision on Nadezhdin's registration is expected to be made on February 8.
According to
The Moscow Times
, the politician had asked the election commission to give him an extra day to examine the signatures that the working group found to be insufficient.
The election commission then postponed its meeting at which a decision was to be made from February 7th to 8th.
According to the ISW, it is unlikely that Nadezhdin will register for the elections from March 15th to 17th.
(vk)