Leaders of Russian opposition parties, who are either behind bars or in self-imposed exile abroad, promise to fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections in March next year.
While they believe Putin will be declared the winner regardless of how voters vote, they say they hope to undermine the broad public support he enjoys, turn the public against the devastating war he has launched against Ukraine, and show those who already oppose it that they are not alone.
“No one but us will enter this battle for the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens. That’s why we have to do it and win,” said imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an online statement.
Putin announced on Friday that he will run for president again, in order to add another six years to his twenty years in power. He could even run again in 2030.
Is it possible to influence the outcome of the election?
Some activists agree that there is no point in trying to influence the outcome of the election.
They say they will use the election campaign to express their views on Putin and his government, when “Russians will be more politically active than usual,” says Leonid Volkov, Navalny’s chief strategist and chief of staff.
“Our task is to ensure that Russians remember the issues that we will be able to raise and put on the agenda of the public in January, February, and March, even after the elections,” Volkov stated, who left Russia several years ago.
Volkov and his team launched the ” Navalny’s Campaign Machine” project. The idea is to talk to as many Russians as possible and convince them “to turn against Putin and the ‘war’ candidate”, as Navalny himself said in an online post announcing the project in June.
Support for candidates with an anti-war stance
The “Our Headquarters” project, launched by several activists who help those fleeing Russia to settle abroad, promises to support “democratic candidates with an anti-war stance.”
Project coordinator Andrei Davydov said that they can offer help to potential candidates in the campaign and procedural side, such as gathering a group of 500 people who are required by law to propose an independent candidate, or collecting and verifying the 300.000 signatures needed to register on the ballot, Slobodna Evropa writes.
E.Dz.
