'Putin challenger' Nadezhdin banned from Russia's upcoming elections
Boris Nadezhdin (Russian media)
Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation has denied registration to Boris Nadezhdin as a candidate in the presidential elections. He was recently considered the "main competitor" to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin in the voting, according to Meduza.
The commission denied Nadezhdin due to a lack of signatures collected. Overall, as assured by the commission, the working group accepted 104,734 signatures in support of Nadezhdin.
"The genuine signatures for Boris Nadezhdin are recognized as 95,587 (9,147 are invalid)," the commission's statement said.
In turn, the politician called this decision "expected" and intends to challenge it in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
"I disagree with the CEC’s decision. I’ve collected over 200,000 signatures from across Russia," he said, adding that he won't retreat and will challenge the decision of the CEC in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.
Elections in Russia
Presidential elections in Russia will last for three days - between March 15 and 17, 2024. On December 8, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin officially announced his intention to run for re-election.
In case of his re-election, Putin will be able to remain in power at least until 2030. Moreover, the Press Secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, has already stated that Putin will be re-elected with a result of 90% of the votes.
Russia is refusing to allow "opposition" leader Boris Nadezhdin to participate in the presidential elections. He "advocates" for peaceful negotiations with Ukraine.
