Boris Nadezhdine, 60, the only opponent of Vladimir Putin and his offensive in Ukraine to have run in the March presidential election in Russia, saw his candidacy rejected by the Electoral Commission on Thursday.
This discreet veteran of political life channeled the hopes of Russians opposed to the Kremlin's policies, in the absence of other better-known opposition figures who are all in exile or in prison.
He has indicated that he wants to challenge the rejection of his candidacy in court, but his chances of success are almost zero.
The Electoral Commission, the body responsible for organizing the elections, loyal to the Kremlin, voted unanimously to refuse to register the candidacy of Boris Nadezhdine.
She accuses him of irregularities in the collection of 100,000 signatures from voters supporting him, necessary to be able to stand for election.
In a context of systematic repression of any challenge to power in Russia, the re-election of outgoing President Vladimir Putin in the presidential election, held on March 15 and 17, is no longer in doubt.
It is unlikely that the Supreme Court or the Constitutional Court, two other institutions loyal to the Kremlin, will render a decision favorable to Boris Nadezhdine, even if the opponent said “counting on the Russian judicial system to resolve the situation”.
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Former liberal MP with a hitherto discreet political career, Boris Nadezhdine promises to stop the “nightmare” of the offensive in Ukraine, to put an end to the “militarization” of Russia and to release “all political prisoners” like opponent Alexeï Navalny detained in a penal colony in the Arctic.
Little known outside the tiny liberal circle, Nadejdine says he entered the race in October, “because no more famous anti-Putin figure had taken the plunge”.
The Kremlin, for its part, has not hidden its disdain for this opponent.
“We do not consider him as a competitor,” Dmitri Peskov, spokesperson for the Russian president, told the press at the end of January.
Vladimir Putin, in power since 2000, is aiming for a new six-year term in the presidential election in March.
With the help of a constitutional reform adopted in 2020, he can remain in the Kremlin until 2036, the year he turns 84.