A Russian politician and former TV journalist has been barred from standing against Vladimir Putin in what appears to be further efforts by the despot to silence opposition.
Independent politician Yekaterina Duntsova had put ending the war in Ukraine at the centre of her campaign. But she was barred on the basis of over 100 “mistakes” on her form according to Russian TV, with the electoral commission voting unanimously to reject her candidacy three days after her application.
It leaves Putin with no real opposition as he approaches Russia’s 2024 election this spring, the first he has faced since invading Ukraine. Ms Duntsova said she would appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.
Protesting the decision on Telegram, she said: “With this political decision, we are deprived of the opportunity to have our own representative and express views that differ from the official aggressive discourse.”
The head of the electoral commission, Ella Pamfilova, offered words of consolation to Duntsova after her rejection, telling her: “You are a young woman, you have everything ahead of you. Any minus can always be turned into a plus. Any experience is still an experience.”
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The Kremlin claims Putin will win not through the silencing of opposition but because he enjoys genuine support across society, with opinion poll ratings of about 80 percent – although critics say these polling results are likely the result of corruption.
He has been in power for 24 years, including an eight-year stint as prime minister.
Ms Duntsova declared she would run for the presidency in November. She told Reuters at the time: “Any sane person taking this step would be afraid – but fear must not win.”
She also called for the release of political prisoners, including Putin’s rival, anti-corruption candidate Alexey Navalny – who is currently held in prison.
When a reporter asked Duntsova if the commission would give her permission to stand against Putin, she questioned why it was necessary to talk “about permission” if it was her “right according to the law”.
She also avoided using the word “war” in the interview to describe the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Putin continues to describe it as a “special military operation”.
While the commission claims 29 people have so far filed to run for the presidency, Putin remains the only candidate to be able to formally register as yet after Ms Duntsova’s campaign was torpedoed.
Another candidate who had tried to run, Igor Girkin, 52, was detained in July following a series of social media posts critical of the president. A nationalist pro-war blogger, he has searingly criticised Russia’s military strategy in Ukraine and described the polls as a “sham”.
Mr Girkin is now in jail awaiting trial for extremism, which he denies. The re-election of Putin during the elction on March 15-17 is currently seen as inevitable.