Presidential election in Russia: Boris Nadejdine, the anti-Putin candidate, announces the rejection of his appeal to run

2024-02-21 18:49:24

Russian opponent Boris Nadejdine announced on Wednesday that the Supreme Court had rejected his appeal against the refusal to register his candidacy for the presidential election in March which should see the reappointment of Vladimir Putin for a new term.

“The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation rejected my appeal challenging the refusal of registration,” he wrote on social media, adding that he would challenge the decision. He said he learned of the Supreme Court’s decision from a foreign country, where he said he was “on vacation with the kids.”

This discreet veteran of Russian political life, who had taken a position for the end of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, had seen his candidacy rejected at the beginning of the month by the Central Electoral Commission on the grounds of irregular signatures of support.

15% of “erroneous” signatures

“The last two months have probably been the most trying of my life,” he said on Tuesday, announcing that he was outside Russia, at a time when the Russian opposition – most of whose representatives are in prison or in exile – was in shock after the death in custody, to date unexplained, of its leader Alexeï Navalny at the age of 47.

“We have decided not to cancel a long-planned and eagerly awaited short trip for the whole family to an Asian country,” he said, affirming that he was not abandoning the ambition to participate in the presidential election. Boris Nadejdine, a former physicist and discreet veteran of politics, officially submitted his candidacy on January 31, after receiving the necessary 100,000 signatures. The Russian Election Commission estimated that 15% of them were “erroneous”, three times more than the allowed error ceiling.

“Participating in the 2024 presidential election is the most important political decision of my life. I am not going back on my intentions. I will appeal the decision of the Election Commission to the Supreme Court,” he said.

Vladimir Putin, 71 years old, in power for a quarter of a century, will not face any real opposition – especially in the current offensive against Ukraine – in the presidential election which should confirm him for a new six-year term in office. Kremlin.