Presidential election in Russia, an election without alternatives
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17 March 2024 Russia will hold its presidential election. It has not yet been confirmed that incumbent President Vladimir Putin is running for a new 5-year term. Everything indicates that Putin is taking a new term and therefore launching his candidacy soon. Putin will win in a country without real democracy. The opposing candidates have no opportunity to reach. All conceivable alternatives to Putin are either imprisoned, fled abroad or killed.
Imprisoned and killed candidates
Anyone who has posed a real threat has been imprisoned or killed. Alexei Navalny is the most famous opposition figure. He is a threat to Putin’s regime. The arrest prevents him from standing for election. Igor Girkin is another who has great sympathy in Russia. Girkin is wanted internationally in connection with the downing of MH17 in 2014. 298 people died in the downing of the passenger plane. Girkin was also central to Russia’s annexation of Crimea and Russia’s occupation of the Ukrainian Donbas in 2014. Girkin was arrested in July 2023. Allegedly for extremism. The reason is probably his criticism of Russia’s lack of progress on the battlefield in Ukraine, his criticism of the military leadership and indirect criticism of Vladimir Putin.
Also former leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, could have been a candidate who would have received many votes. His criticism of Russian warfare in Ukraine matched that of Girkin. Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash earlier this autumn. The cause of the plane crash is unknown. Many believe that the plane was shot down by Russia’s defense forces.
The opposing candidates to Putin in the Russian presidential election
Of the few opposing candidates we know about now, the vast majority are cautious about criticizing Putin. The only exception (to some extent is Boris Nadezhdin. He wants Russia to stop isolating itself and wants a better relationship with the rest of Europe. He has not directly criticized the war in Ukraine, but wants a negotiation to end the war. However, he said this only after Russia suffered major defeats at Kharkiv (autumn 2022). Recently, he has said that the war in Ukraine is a disaster. After this statement, he has not been given time on Russian TV. This makes it almost impossible for him to reach the voters.
None of the opposing candidates will get any major support. That is why they are allowed to stand as candidates, they pose no threat. All imaginable opposition is gagged in advance by the use of murder and imprisonment.
Sources:
2024 Russian presidential election – Wikipedia
Putin looks set to run for president in 2024 and there’s no opposition (cnbc.com)