Candidates for Russian presidential election register

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 24 Dec 2023 by Alex Teddy

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Putin is supported by the largest party: United Russia. But he is not a member of any party. Candidates who are in the registration process include a retired military officer who is fervently pro-war; the former Defense Minister of the Donetsk People's Republic; a local councilor belonging to the Civic Initiative Party; a pensioners' and disabled people's campaigner; a beauty blogger; the leader of the Liberal Democrats; a communist member of the State Duma; and the leader of the Russian All People's Union. There is only one woman among the 16 candidates. Only one of the candidates besides Putin has much name recognition. He is Leonid Slutsky—leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. Despite the name, his party is hardline nationalist and authoritarian. No candidate other than Putin would have much of a chance even in a completely fair election. The opposition candidates tend not to campaign vigorously. The outcome is not in doubt. The youngest candidate is 39. At 71, Putin is the eldest. On December 23 it was announced that Yekaterina Duntsova had been refused registration by the Central Election Commission when she sought to run in the 2024 election. The reason given is that there were many errors in her documents. It is suspected that the authorities have blocked her on spurious grounds because they are worried about her candidacy. She is similar to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya who ran in Belarus in 2020. The 40-year-old comes from a small city near Moscow and is a journalist. She wants to end the war but has been careful to call it a ''special military operation'', in line with Russian law. Nevertheless she was spoken to by the public prosecutor about her statements. Her...