The long queues that formed in January to support pacifist candidate Boris Nadezhdin could come to naught if Russia’s Central Election Commission rejects the 105,000 signatures submitted in a few days and does not register him as a candidate for the election presidential elections in March. Whether admitted or eliminated, the elections are poised to be a kind of referendum on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the military campaign in Ukraine.
“I think there is hope and something can be changed. I hope they let him continue and that we can see a new face of a well-trained politician”, said Maksim, a medical student, who signed for Nadezhdin in Moscow, in one of those queues.
But that hope may be dashed in a few days. The Electoral Commission suggested on Friday that it might not register Nadejdin due to irregularities found in the signatures he submitted. The vice-president of the organization, Nikolai Bulayev, pointed out the presence of what you know as “dead souls” in the endorsements of Nadezhdin and Sergey Malinkovich, who is presented by the small Communist Party of Russia. Both have been summoned to the Commission today, Monday.
Nadezhdin denied it. “You and I are the most alive among the living,” he told his followers in a Telegram message. And he accompanied him with photos of the queues that more than 200,000 Russians formed to give him signatures of support.
The term dead souls comes from the classic novel of the same name from the 19th century by Nikolai Gogol. In Imperial Russia before the emancipation of the serfs, a knight buys the property rights of dead peasants to pretend wealth and defraud the Government.
A young programmer who signed up for Nadejdin, whose name is Lev, will be one of the many disappointed if the would-be pacifist is ultimately not registered. Speaking to La Vanguardia at the end of January in front of the politician’s office, he mentioned the three wishes he had placed in him: “The freedom of political prisoners in Russia, the end of the special military operation (in Ukraine) and the end of the vertical of Putin’s power”.
Also, another major contender, nationalist politician Sergei Baburin, leader of the Russian National Union, announced last week that he was withdrawing from the presidential race just after submitting boxes full of signatures to the Commission. Baburin said that “at a time of confrontation with the West there must be no division of patriotic forces”. And he asked his followers “to unite around the national leader Putin”.
With most of the independent contenders already eliminated or withdrawn, the aim of the power is to make the victory as overwhelming as possible. That the presidential elections of March 15, 16 and 17 would be turned into a referendum was something that was not thought of at the end of December, since the Electoral Commission had received 29 requests to stand in the elections, according to its president , El·la Pamfilova.
Without Baburin the situation is accentuated. If Nadezhdin is admitted or not, little will change, because apart from Putin the other important candidates would be those who have presented three parties in the Duma: Nikolai Kharitonov (Communist Party), Leonid Slutsky (Liberal Democratic Party) and Vladislav Davankov (People New). These are the consented opposition, which plays a pineapple with Putin. That is why the Kremlin needs a victory that leaves no doubt. That means winning by a higher percentage than in 2018, when Putin won 76.7% of the vote.
From the Communist Party, the main opposition force, it is believed that the presidential administration is working on this idea. “It seems that towards Baburin there is a flow of votes coming from the main candidate. After all, victory must be overwhelming and unconditional. And that’s why it’s necessary to eliminate all risk”, Serguei Óbukhov, head of the Communist Party’s analysis office, told Nezavíssimaia Gazeta. On the contrary, they do not believe that Malinkovich is dangerous for Putin’s interests and yes for those of his candidate, Kharitonov. That’s why, they say, he could stay in the race.
Other analysts, such as the political scientist Konstantín Kalachov, believe that Baburin could collect the vote of “angry patriots”, who support the intervention in Ukraine but disagree on the execution. This support would not be significant, but every vote counts.