As of: March 14, 2024, 11:38 a.m
By: Stefan Krieger
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Press
Split
The Russian presidential election is a complete farce.
Kremlin leader Putin, who will secure his fifth term in office, is selling it as a “step into the future.”
Moscow – It is actually forbidden to speak of an “election” in the upcoming vote to confirm Vladimir Putin in office.
In the presidential election in Russia, which has been overshadowed by allegations of fraud and manipulation, Putin is already the winner - but he has now called on his compatriots to vote.
“Only you, the citizens of Russia, determine the fate of the fatherland,” Putin said in a speech broadcast on state television overnight and from which Russian media quoted on Thursday morning.
“The elections are a step into the future.” The 71-year-old Kremlin chief also briefly discussed the war in Ukraine, which is nothing other than his personal war of aggression, and praised the Russian soldiers for their “courage and heroism.”
Under strict military supervision: early voting in the 2024 Russian presidential election in Lisichansk.
© IMAGO/Alexander Reka
Russia election: No competition for Putin
“It is important to underline our solidarity and determination and to move forward together.
Every vote you cast is valuable and important,” Putin said in his video address.
“That is why I ask you to exercise your right to vote in the next three days.” Putin, who has been in power as president or prime minister since 2000, will have to face three “challengers” from Friday (March 15).
None of them had ever criticized Putin.
Two other candidates who ran calling for an end to the war in Ukraine were simply excluded from the election.
candidate |
Government office |
|---|---|
Nikolai Kharitonov |
Duma deputy |
Vladislav Davankov |
Deputy Chairman of the Duma |
Wladimir Putin |
Russian President |
Leonid Slutsky |
Duma member |
Putin speaks of “elections” in occupied territories
“Elections” will also take place in the annexed areas of Ukraine, Putin claimed.
In fact, the elections that Moscow is organizing in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, as well as on the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed in 2014, are highly controversial.
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The sham votes in the occupied territories are considered to be contrary to international law and are therefore not internationally recognized.
The voting there has already begun and is causing disruption because images show Ukrainian people being pressured to vote, sometimes in the presence of heavily armed Russian soldiers.
Kremlin opponents are calling for the result not to be recognized because democratic standards are no longer being met.
But the vote is a farce not only in the occupied territories.
Even on Russian territory, democratic standards are being violated so severely that, according to observers, there can be no question of free elections.
Putin will still secure his fifth term in office - this is already considered certain.
(skr with agency material)