An eternal president against three inexperienced puppets

in russia eternal president He may seem young compared to the Communist candidate, who is older than him and even more old-fashioned. If compared with the candidate of Ultranational Party, he may prove to be moderate and credible.IST, a group that has advocated reclaiming Alaska and whose leader has been condemned for harassing several women in the rooms of the Russian parliament.

It is difficult to portray Putin as a pacifist, but it is difficult to suggest that pacifism is not too far from Vladimir Putin with a moderate candidate who seeks peace rather than opposes war where Russia imposes its own terms. you are welcome show Russian election (fifth of Vladimir Vladimirovich, 71) where the President is once again a known rogue and the other candidates have no known experience or even almost no one knows them.

Kremlin aims to achieve at least 70% participation Almost 80% votes for PutinWhich will be more than 76.7% participation in 2018. To achieve this, the Russian leader has surrounded himself with decorative candidates: aspirants who do not aspire to much.

Candidates other than the President who are contesting as an independent candidate include leonid slutskyof the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR); Nikolai KharitonovCommunist Party: and Vladislav Davankov, which symbolizes innovation with its New People Party. Elections will be held from 15 to 17 March. Everyone knows that there will be no second round and that Vladimir Putin will win. But elections are a necessary step for governance to rebuild its illusion of democracyAvoiding public protests, which are always inconvenient to suppress.

Of the entire group of hopefuls, only Vladimir Putin has experience in high-level government positions. A quarter of a century is a long time. He has been deputy mayor, head of the FSB intelligence service, secretary of the Security Council, twice prime minister and President for four terms: Some of his voters were not born when Yeltsin gave him the Kremlin’s main office. The rest are those representatives who at some time have reached the post of chairman of a parliamentary committee or deputy chairman of the Duma. He has barely been able to make anything public in his life.

pacifist who does not oppose aggression but opposes war

Vladislav Davankov of the New People or New People Party is seen by some experts and opposition politicians as An alternative candidate for pacifist voters After other pacifist candidates were excluded from the election. Davankov is the youngest, although with his eternal forehead he looks older; He will turn 40 on March 17, the last day of voting. It has a liberal aura amid the Putinist turn toward greater autocracy, but this is unknown to the people. advocate for “Peace and dialogue” with Ukraine., “freedom of the press” and the normalization of Russia’s relations with Western countries. He criticizes the direction of the attack but without making too much noise. An example: It was the only parliamentary party that initially opposed Moscow recognizing the independence of the separatist regions in 2022. luhansk And Donetsk in Ukraine. But ultimately they voted for this.

His peace proposal is that of a ‘major solution’: the first point of his manifesto calls for “peace and dialogue”, albeit “on our own terms”. The latest polling data from state consultancy VTsIOM suggests it could take second place. Devankov unsuccessfully ran for Moscow mayor in 2023 and received just over 5% of the vote: well below the mark set by dissident leader Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last month when he took over the reins of the capital’s government in 2013. Took part in that race. Got second place with 27% votes. This is one reason why the Russian regime decided to eliminate Navalny, because he could not influence Putin as much as he Ornamental candidates who follow their fossilization to power,

extremist sobon

Leonid Slutsky, leader of the far-right nationalist LDPR party and a member of the State Duma since 2000, would get about 3%, according to polls. In 2018, he was accused of sexually harassing several journalists and colleagues. Some media dubbed him harvey weinstein Russian. He PutinismChristians and conservatives, therefore, saw no reason to veto it.

He is so in favor of the Kremlin’s wars of conquest that in 2022, he was part of a delegation of hard-liners that Moscow sent to peace talks with Ukraine as it tried to capture Kiev. Looking more handsome and cheerful than the rest of the candidates, he declared that the Azov fighters “don’t deserve to live,” a cry that rings true in the case of someone like him, who has spent years gaining social relevance with his Russian Peace Foundation. of. He was one of the first Russian politicians approved by the West. annexation of Crimea in 2014. Years later he sought revenge: in 2017 he described the Catalan independence referendum as a “litmus test” for the EU, recalling the support of some European countries for the secession of Kosovo and the rejection of the Crimea vote.

His predecessor as candidate, historian and veteran Vladimir Zhirinovsky, died months after an invasion in 2022, which he had cheerfully predicted. In the last 2018 elections, he got less than 6% votes.

old failed communist

communist contender Nikolai Kharitonov He has the virtue of being older than Putin, at 75, which is higher than the average for Russian men at death. He has been a member of the State Duma since 1993. He had already run for president in 2004 and finished second with about 13% of the votes. An expert in agriculture, he above all seeks support for retirees and families.

The figures given by surveys are around 4%. As a presidential candidate, he said he would avoid criticizing Putin during the campaign. Partly because war has become the principle shaping Russian politics from 2022 onwards. but also special military operations It is not a topic for debate, except in gatherings where commentators compete to be in first place. Warmongering and xenophobic fundamentalism, The government has imposed censorship laws under the pretext of preventing “slander” and “fakes”. But still, the Russians – whether they are nationalists, communists or supporters of the executive – do not have a clear idea of ​​where and in what places the fighting is taking place and what the objectives are.

Polls show that there is a modest majority that would prefer to start peace talks to end the war, although they avoid condemning the Kremlin for starting it.

Purpose: Create confusion

Victory is not enough for the Kremlin. Despite the lack of news and limited renewal of government commitment, Russians need to go to the polls. The responsibility of bringing all this together has been entrusted to the Kremlin’s chief technocrat, the deputy head of the Presidential Administration. Sergey Kiriyenko, in charge of Putin’s domestic policy. These tactics include pressuring state employees and others dependent on the budget to participate in elections.

The United Russia party has created and distributes the Jio-SMS service, which helps monitor voter participation in elections. This was reported by Golos, a movement to protect voters’ rights. The user must have geolocation enabled, and the link does not work outside the polling station. Only then can you prove that you have voted. According to sources revealed in Russian media medusaAuthorities intend to control participation through electronic voting and, when not available, through QR codes, which will be checked at polling stations. Elections will be held in three days instead of one. This, along with the deployment of electronic voting, makes it difficult for observers to monitor Danger,

Everything is not under control. You have to maintain a certain tension, even if it is unconscious. An investigation of the International Journalism Project kremlin leaks have revealed that some films and television series were produced or promoted to promote sentiments or ideas that would reinforce Putin’s victory. In a document to which the Estonian publication had access delphi Including the most popular Russian series of recent years, boys talkWhat tells about Kazan criminal groups last years of ussr, The old times have returned.