Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was deemed unfit to run in the March 18 presidential election, said it was “impossible to recognize” elections aimed at “actually reinventing” Vladimir Putin, who wants to be a lifelong.
Two months ago, in the absence of surprises, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to have a fourth term. The 41-year-old lawyer, known for his condemnation of the corruption of Russian elites, has hosted AFP at his campaign headquarters in a building south of Moscow.
“These elections are not elections, and it will now be my turn to raise awareness that this process, which they call elections, really aims to re-inaugurate Putin,” Navalni said, speaking in his office adjoining a small studio recording videos of his blog.
“We will prove the impossibility of recognizing these elections and this power and we will convince people to do so.”
At the end of December, the electoral commission rejected Nafalni’s candidacy for alleged embezzlement in a case that he said was aimed at keeping him out of politics.
Opposition supporters called for a boycott of merit and demonstration across Russia on January 28.
“Putin wants to be an emperor for life, and his surroundings, made up of the rudeness of the wealthiest people of the world’s rich, want the same thing.”
“We do not have a real election right now and we demand that it be restored, and we will be ready to win those elections,” Navalni said.
The opposition, which began its public life with the patriots of Pat today, is supported by the Liberals. In March and June, two large demonstrations took place in various cities across the country, with the arrest of thousands.
Despite the disregard of local media for Nafalni, he remains highly present in the various networks that are heavily involved in the corruption of elites, in particular a video on Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, which has been viewed 25 million times on YouTube.
– Putin “fears me” –
Alexei Navalny has campaigned for months in Russia and organized meetings and opened many offices in the countryside despite the obstacles of the authorities, which earned him the base of loyal supporters, mostly young people.
Navalni was jailed three times for his activities in 2017.
“He fears me,” he said, adding that he had created “the most important collective political movement in Russia’s modern history with more than 200,000 volunteers.”
“We will not vote, we want to convince the need to abstain from voting, and we monitor the entitlement to prevent the authority to falsify the participation rate,” especially in areas known to be favorable for frauds like the Caucasus according to him.
The main contender for the March 18 presidential election seems to be Putin, backed by extraordinary popularity, the almost certain winner of a fourth term to keep him in power in 2024, a quarter of a century after his appointment as successor to Boris Yeltsin.
– “The corrupt community” –
Many Russians see their 65-year-old boss as the architect of a return to stability after the chaos of the 1990s, with more than 85 percent expressing their intention to vote in the latest polls by the Russian Center for Public Opinion Research.
He also has a broad lead over communist candidate Pavel Grodinin (less than 8 percent), compared to less than 1 percent for other liberal candidates Ksenia Sobchak and Gregory Yavlinsky.
Levada, the only independent polling institute, was not allowed to conduct opinion polls during the campaign after the authorities classified it as an “agent for the outside.”
He said Putin’s popularity “exists only in a background where some candidates are not allowed to run in the race and only allow those who choose them.”
He also accused the Russian president of “turning Russia into an authoritarian state” and of “making corruption a base for his authority” and “exploiting foreign policy issues” like Ukraine or Syria to cover up the country’s economic difficulties, where the standard of living remains low.
The opposition also stressed that “my political struggle is not limited to the elections,” even though he acknowledges “fears” for his safety and the safety of his family. “I am well aware of who I am dealing with and I know what the Kremlin is capable of, the corrupt community in its service and the hordes of murderers under their command, in Chechnya, for example … who can kill 200 meters from the Kremlin, like Boris Nemtsov, Who was assassinated in 2015.
