Yekaterina Duntsova, a former legislator and Russian politician advocating for peace in Ukraine, faced a setback in her campaign as Russia’s Central Election Commission rejected her initial nomination due to errors in the submitted documents.
Duntsova, who aims to challenge President Vladimir Putin and promote a vision of a peaceful and cooperative Russia, expressed her disappointment on the Telegram messaging app.
The commission identified 100 errors in her nomination papers, including misspellings of names. Despite this setback, Duntsova plans to appeal the decision in Russia’s Supreme Court and has reached out to the Yabloko political party for their nomination.
Meanwhile, Yabloko party founder Grigory Yavlinsky stated that he was unsure if the party would consider Duntsova’s application. On a positive note, Duntsova gained the endorsement of 500 supporters, a requirement under Russian election law, and submitted her nomination documents to the Central Election Commission.
Several Russian political parties have announced their support for specific candidates in the upcoming presidential election, which is widely expected to be won by the incumbent President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian Communist Party, the second largest party in the State Duma, has chosen to back Duma deputy Nikolai Kharitonov, while the Just Russia – For Truth party has formally announced its support for Putin’s nomination. Although parties in the Duma do nominate candidates to run against Putin, they generally pose only token opposition and are sympathetic to his agenda.
The Civic Initiative party, which is not represented in the Duma, is expected to support independent candidate Boris Nadezhdin, who has campaigned against Russia’s actions in Ukraine and has gained the support of soldiers’ wives. Meanwhile, volunteers from Putin’s campaign headquarters, along with branches of the United Russia party and the People’s Front political coalition, have started collecting signatures in support of his independent candidacy. Putin has submitted his nomination papers to the Central Election Commission, and according to Russian law, independent candidates must be nominated by at least 500 supporters and gather at least 300,000 signatures from 40 or more regions. The head of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, has stated that there are 29 applicants for candidacy in the election.
Despite the possibility of an opposition candidate running against Putin, his firm control over the country during his 24 years in power makes his reelection in March highly likely.
