The presidential elections in Russia have been scheduled to be held in the middle of March. Based on existing indicators, it is widely anticipated that the incumbent president, Vladimir Putin, will emerge victorious once again in the upcoming election.
The Central Election Commission of Russia has officially confirmed the list of candidates who will be running in the presidential election this March.
When the selection process was concluded, only four individuals were approved to run as official candidates. This is according to the reports from Russian news agencies, Tass and Interfax.
Alongside the incumbent president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, the other nominated candidates include Leonid Slutski, Vladislav Davankov, and Nikolai Kharitonov.
As per the reports from Tassi, this is the first time since 2008 that there are only four candidates in the Russian presidential elections.
Putin is seeking a fifth term in office in this election. It is widely expected that he will triumph over his competitors as the electoral process in Russia is perceived as not being entirely democratic.
The Central Election Commission denied the registration of Sergei Malinkovitchia, the chairman of the Communist Party, and Boris Nadezhdinia, a war opponent, as presidential candidates.
Nadezhdin took to social media to announce this decision on Thursday, promising to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Russia.
Nadezhdin is one of the few prominent critics of Russia’s aggressive war tactics and Putin’s war policies within Russian politics. The Central Election Commission justified their decision to deny his candidacy by stating that there were forged signatures on his supporter cards, according to Tassi.
The Central Election Commission had already mentioned in early February about the discrepancies in the signatures on Nadeždin’s supporter cards, even claiming that some of the signatories were deceased individuals.
According to Tassin, the nominations of two bloggers who had attempted to run for office were also rejected due to the insufficiency of supporter card signatories and missing documents.
The presidential elections in Russia are due to be held in mid-March. The last day to apply for candidacy in the Russian presidential elections is Saturday, February 10th.