Russia’s Election Commission Rejects Anti-War Challenger Boris Nadezhdin as Presidential Candidate
In a surprising turn of events, Russia’s election commission has rejected Boris Nadezhdin, an anti-war challenger, as a candidate in the upcoming presidential vote. Nadezhdin has been vocal about his criticism of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale war in Ukraine, a stance that few dissenting voices have been able to express in Russia. The election authorities claimed that more than 15% of the signatures he submitted with his candidate application were flawed, leading to the rejection of his bid.
Undeterred by this setback, Nadezhdin took to social media to announce that he would challenge the decision in Russia’s Supreme Court. Despite the commission’s ruling, he remains determined to fight for his candidacy. Nadezhdin stated that he has already garnered the support of “dozens of millions of people who do not want Russia to be in this track of authoritarianism and militarism.”
The Central Election Commission revealed that out of the 105,000 signatures submitted by Nadezhdin, over 9,000 were deemed invalid due to various violations. This left him with 95,587 valid signatures, just shy of the required 100,000 signatures needed to register as a candidate. The commission chairwoman, Ella Pamfilova, declared that the decision had been made and suggested that Nadezhdin could take his case to court if he wished.
Russia’s presidential election is scheduled to take place from March 15-17. However, the result is not in doubt, as only candidates deemed acceptable to the Kremlin are running. The election commission chairwoman stated that there would be four candidates on the ballot, including Vladimir Putin, nationalist leader Leonid Slutsky, parliament deputy speaker Vladislav Davankov, and Communist Nikolai Kharitonov. None of these candidates are seen as genuine challengers, as their parties have broadly supported Kremlin policies.
Boris Nadezhdin, a former MP and now a councillor from the Dolgoprudny area near Moscow, has emerged as an unlikely rallying candidate for Russia’s beleaguered opposition. Despite his ties to Sergei Kiriyenko, a key Putin political overseer, Nadezhdin has been critical of the government’s actions in Ukraine. He has appeared as an anti-war “whipping boy” on Russian state-run TV talk shows, where other guests would target him for criticism.
Initially viewed with suspicion by some opposition figures, Nadezhdin gained the support of Russia’s main opposition leader Alexei Navalny and exiled former business magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Navalny, currently serving a jail term for extremism, endorsed Nadezhdin’s campaign from his jail cell inside the Arctic Circle. Nadezhdin claimed to be running second in the polls to President Putin, who is seeking a fifth term in office.
Nadezhdin’s run for the presidency was initially dismissed as uncharismatic and harmless. However, his campaign gained momentum as Russians began registering their support for his candidacy. His promise to end the war in Ukraine on his first day as president struck a chord with many, particularly the wives of reservists who long for their husbands’ safe return. Pro-Kremlin propagandists, such as Vladimir Solovyov, condemned Nadezhdin and even suggested that he might be a stooge for “Ukrainian Nazis.”
This rejection by the election commission is not an isolated incident. Kremlin opponents have frequently been excluded from elections due to alleged technical infringements. Alexei Navalny himself was barred from running in the 2018 presidential vote because of a politically motivated embezzlement conviction. Nadezhdin’s rejection follows a similar pattern, as former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova was also barred from running in December due to mistakes on her application form.
Despite the setback, Boris Nadezhdin remains resolute in his determination to challenge the decision and fight for the presidency. He has tapped into a wave of anti-war sentiment in Russia and has garnered significant support from the public. While his chances of success may be slim, Nadezhdin’s candidacy has brought attention to the desire for change among many Russians who are tired of authoritarianism and militarism.
