An independent Russian politician, Ekaterina Dountsova, committed to “peace”, submitted her candidacy file on Wednesday for the presidential election of March 2024, during which a new victory for Vladimir Putin is in no doubt.
She filed the necessary documents with the Electoral Commission, which then confirmed their registration.
But this is only a first step: the candidate must now gather at least 300,000 signatures of support, which will not be an easy task.
Optimistic Ekaterina Dountsova, 40, said there was “always a 50/50 chance”.
The re-election of President Vladimir Putin to a fifth term, however, is a formality, with no form of opposition being tolerated. Almost all major figures, such as anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny, have been thrown in prison or driven into exile.
Ekaterina Dountsova was also summoned by the prosecutor’s office after announcing her intention to run in the election.
In her message, she notably estimated on social networks that Russia was “moving away from rights and freedoms, from love and peace, from a beautiful future”, almost two years after the start of the Russian assault on Ukraine.
Asked on Wednesday about her fears regarding her safety and that of her loved ones, she admitted that there were “concerns” while recalling that what she is doing is “legal”. “We have a rather positive program, we are not opposed to anything, we are for peace and for democratic processes,” she added.
This former journalist and municipal deputy estimated that “people want an alternative and regain confidence in the electoral process”.
At the end of November, she said she had already collected “more than 10,000” of the 300,000 signatures needed.
Putin until 2036?
Earlier in the day, the Electoral Commission said it had received 16 applications for the presidential election scheduled for March 15 to 17, 2024, including that of Vladimir Putin.
Candidates have until December 27 to file an initial application for registration with the Election Commission, according to the official timetable.
The obligation to collect 300,000 signatures concerns independent candidates, not supported by a party represented in the Duma. They must submit them at least 45 days before the election to the Electoral Commission, which then makes a final decision within 10 days.
On Wednesday, the president of the Electoral Commission, Ella Pamfilova, also indicated that “around 38 million voters” could vote online.
The Russian-occupied territories in eastern and southern Ukraine will also take part in the election.
Vladimir Putin, whom a 2020 constitutional revision allows to still be a candidate in 2030, can theoretically remain in the Kremlin until 2036, the year he turns 84.
Having just been nominated as a candidate on Tuesday, the nationalist and Kremlin loyalist Leonid Sloutsky assured him from the outset that he “would not remove[t] no vote” to Vladimir Putin whose victory will be “enormous”, he promised.