Enlarge image

Boris Nadezhdin in Moscow: No chance of victory

Photo: Maksim Blinov / Sputnik / IMAGO

This step alone is a success for Russia's opposition: war opponent Boris Nadezhdin has submitted more than a hundred thousand signatures to the Central Election Commission in Moscow for his candidacy in the upcoming "presidential election." The liberal politician wants to challenge Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin in March, although he has no prospect of victory. There are no free elections in Russia. The fact that several candidates are admitted serves to give the appearance of a free election.

It is unclear whether Nadezhdin will be officially accepted as a candidate. The Central Election Commission wants to decide this by February 10th. There can be no question of an independent decision in this process either. The fact that a politician with open positions against the Ukrainian war manages to collect the necessary number of signatures for a candidacy is already considered a great success for Russian opposition members.

Nadezhdin submitted a total of about 105,000 signatures from 87 regions, his spokesman said. In recent weeks, queues of people who wanted to support Nadezhdin's candidacy with a signature could be observed in Moscow and other Russian cities. According to Russian electoral law, Nadezhdin, who is running for the Civic Initiative party, had to collect at least 100,000 signatures from citizens in different areas of the country.

“We have to elect a different leadership of the country”

Nadezhdin represents liberal positions and has repeatedly spoken out publicly against the continuation of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine - even on state television. "We have to elect a different leadership of the country who will put an end to this story with Ukraine," he recently said in a talk show about the war of invasion against Kiev.

The 60-year-old has been in politics for over 30 years and was once close to Putin before a breakup occurred in 2013 over the arrest of oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Nadezhdin is now calling for closer relations with the West, for a free market economy and for more freedom in the country.

Regarding the reasons why he has not yet been targeted by the Russian authorities like other prominent opposition figures such as Alexei Navalny or Vladimir Kara-Mursa, he said: "They obviously don't see me as a terrible threat, but I can only assume." The popularity Nadezhdin has received in recent weeks may have surprised the Kremlin. Nadezhdin is currently supported by the entire, otherwise divided opposition.

col/heb