(Institute of Modern Russia – imrussia.org – January 12, 2018) Dmitry Oreshkin argues that Navalny’s call for a boycott is good step for him, but not for voters Even before he was officially denied nomination as a presidential candidate, Alexei Navalny called on his supporters to boycott the presidential elections. Political commentator Dmitry Oreshkin discusses why this is good step […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, January 8, 2018) Vladimir Putin during his first two terms in office sought to unify Russians around him; but in his third, he divided them by attacking what he calls “the fifth column,” thus unwittingly creating two communities within Russia, opening up the country’s political space, and making competition for power possible, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – January 4, 2018) Russia’s election officials have received a record 64 applications from potential candidates for the March 18 presidential race, the Central Election Commission announced on Tuesday. Only a minority of applicants are expected to get the chance to challenge President Vladimir Putin’s re-election bid by getting on the ballot, with deadlines for signatures […]
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“Now that he’s been officially barred from challenging Russian President Vladimir Putin in presidential elections next March, opposition leader Alexey Navalny is counting on becoming an even bigger nuisance for the Kremlin. The 41-year-old Navalny, who is banned from appearing on state television and whose name Putin never even mentions in public, is urging his supporters to protest nationwide on […]
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(Article ©2017 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – December 29, 2017 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-sobchak-interview-presidency-navalny/28946492.html) Russian journalist and TV personality Ksenia Sobchak has dismissed calls by a barred opposition leader for an election boycott as “pointless” and said her candidacy in the March presidential vote could help fuse opposition elements into a legitimate political force in Russia. […]
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(Article ©2017 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – December 28, 2017 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/five-russia-questions-for-2018/28944045.html) With 2017 almost behind us, and 2018 nearly upon us, here are five questions The Power Vertical will be keeping an eye on going forward. 1. How Will The Kremlin Handle Navalny’s ‘Campaign’? As expected, Aleksei Navalny won’t be […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) – Russian Central Elections Commission Chair Ella Pamfilova has spoken categorically against attempts to artificial increase voter turnout in the 2018 Russian presidential election. “I am warning our representatives in the regions, administration officials, not to make any attempts to force an artificial increase in voter turnout,” Pamfilova said at a Central Elections Commission meeting on […]
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“… Navalny, a Russian anticorruption activist, would have no real chance of defeating … Putin in an election. … But on Monday the Kremlin barred him from running for president in March. Then on Tuesday, threatening legal action, it warned him against organizing a boycott of the election. In one surreal turn after another, the Russian authorities have dismissed Mr. […]
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“Russia’s Central Election Commission refused to register Alexey Navalny’s presidential candidacy on December 25, a day after the opposition politician’s campaign staged nomination gatherings in 20 cities across the country and Navalny personally submitted his candidacy application to the commission. Before the formal vote, Navalny addressed the commission in a fiery speech where he called on election officials to let […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 21, 2017) Vladimir Putin’s draft proposal to provide debt relief to a third of the Russian population before next year’s presidential elections is breezing its way through the Russian parliament. Kremlin officials are hoping for a 70 percent turnout with 70 percent of votes cast for Putin as president. A Levada poll published earlier […]
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(Interfax – December 18, 2017) Russia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) will consider the documents of all those who want to register as contenders in next year’s presidential election, including opposition politician Alexei Navalny, Interfax news agency reported on 18 December. The agency quoted the head of the commission, Elena Pamfilova, as saying that after the would-be contenders “conduct the appropriate […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, December 15, 2017) The Romir polling agency at the request of the Petersburg Politics Foundation has conducted an in-depth poll of those Russians, approximately 25 percent of the total, who say that they will not vote for Vladimir Putin and who alternative candidates are competing among for support. On the Polit.ru portal […]
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MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) – The Central Elections Commission will know the precise number of would-be presidential candidates by January 31, 2018, Commission Secretary Maya Grishina said. “The self-nomination process will begin today and end on January 7, 2018. Political parties can also start nominating their candidates today; the law gives them a little more time to do so,” Grishina […]
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“Ask Russian analysts to describe the coming presidential election campaign, and their answers contain a uniform theme: a circus, a carnival, a sideshow. What they do not call it is a real election. With the victory of President Vladimir V. Putin assured, the real contest, analysts said, is the bare-knuckled, no-holds-barred fight to determine who or what comes after him […]
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“Three months ahead of Russia’s presidential election, apathy and disappointment pervade … A new person is unlikely …. If Putin’s 18 years in power have induced apathy and a sense of helplessness … that’s the big issue in Navalny’s view. Putin has made voters in industrial cities … his base, touting stability …. A … Levada Center [survey] suggests that enthusiasm for Putin is in […]
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“On December 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his 2018 presidential bid …. The Russian news agency Tass explained that Putin did not yet disclose whether he would run as the United Russia party nominee or as an independent self-nominated candidate. …”
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“The threat of new U.S. sanctions has spread anxiety among Russia’s wealthiest people that their association with … Putin could land them on a U.S. government blacklist …. drawn up by early next year … part of a sanctions bill passed overwhelmingly by Congress …. Although those included on the list would not automatically be sanctioned, six people … part of the […]
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“Russian business ombudsman Boris Titov will run for president in the 2018 election, representing the business-oriented Party of Growth …. [running] on the ‘Growth Strategy’ program developed by the Stolypin Club … unlikely to become a serious competitor … [but he] could bring pressing economic issues [to] the forefront …. * * * … the greatest other threat to [Putin’s] re-election is perhaps public apathy […]
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“In contrast to the populist image … Putin has created to galvanize support, he is part of today’s Russian establishment elite. This puts him in an awkward position as populism spreads across Europe and Russia marks the one hundredth anniversary of the 1917 revolution. Should Putin again take the populist approach, he is likely to inspire accusations of hypocrisy from the […]
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“More than 10 weeks after losing a local council election in western Moscow … Putin’s party is clinging to power there – by fair means or foul. The standoff over control of Filyovsky Park Council came to a head when opposition councilor Vadim Korovin tried to sit in the chairman’s seat at a meeting on Tuesday. A councilor from the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 20, 2017) A majority of Russians hold President Vladimir Putin responsible for Russia’s problems, according to the results of a Levada Center poll published Monday. Putin is widely expected to announce his candidacy for elections next March which would give the president a fourth term. Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose anti-corruption protests this year […]
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MOSCOW. Nov 17 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet to announce whether he will run for re-election, his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. “It is not yet unclear whether Putin will run for the re-election. As you know, he did not say anything about it,” Peskov told reporters, replying to a question as to whether the possibility of involving […]
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“A celebrity Russian TV host who intends to run for president in next March’s election said Friday that she hopes to make the nations’ tightly-controlled political system more inclusive and democratic. The 36-year-old Ksenia Sobchak has cast herself as a ‘candidate against all’ in the March 18 vote. She’s seeking to reach out to those who have grown tired of […]
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“This edition considers political mobilization in Russia ahead of the 2018 Presidential Elections. …”
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“Elections in 2018 are very unlikely to mean a new president for Russia, but they could see a new prime minister appointed. … while the role is essentially to be presidential henchman and scapegoat, it is a role with meaning, and … Putin’s choice will be both consequential and also a potential indicator of the direction he plans to take …. […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – November 8, 2017) The longtime leader of Russia’s Communist Party denied that he’s running for president in 2018 – less than 24 hours after seemingly announcing his candidacy on state-run television. Gennady Zyuganov said on the centennial anniversary of the October Revolution on Tuesday that “every organization” within his party had backed his candidacy for […]
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“[Sobchak’s father] was mayor of Leningrad … [and] made … Putin his deputy. … he defended Mr. Putin from corruption accusations. … [Sobchak] fled the country … [facing] his own corruption allegations. … [returning] after … Putin became prime minister …. For the opposition, [Ksenia] Sobchak’s meeting with [Putin] … amounts to treachery: A true [Putin] opponent … would never negotiate with him about participating in the election. But are there any real […]
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(Kremlin.ru – October 30, 2017) [Full transcript here en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/55947] Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin …. Igor Borisov: Mr President, thank you for giving me the floor. I have just a few words about the elections. I understand we have a very compressed schedule; Mr Fedotov is ready to […]
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YEKATERINBURG. Oct 28 (Interfax) – The Russian television presenter Ksenia Sobchak, who has decided to run for presidency in 2018, says that Crimea must hold a new independent referendum. “Russia violated its international obligations, that’s the main starting point. There are Russian people living in Crimea, many of them. (…) We cannot treat them as subjects of geopolitics. That policy […]
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“In Russia … [elections] are acts of confirmation: The only real suspense … is whether … Putin will receive 70 percent or 80 percent …. Putin … surely understands that reform is the moment of greatest vulnerability for a Russian leader (just ask … Gorbachev). … Putin’s intent is always to maintain control, as recent prosecutions attest. * * * … At the top of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 30, 2017) Yekaterina Gordon, a 37-year-old journalist and singer-songwriter with her own law firm, on Monday announced she would be putting herself forward as a candidate for presidential elections in March 2018. The announcement comes less than two weeks after celebrity Ksenia Sobchak placed her presidential bid, in a controversial move which critics say […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Evan Gershkovich – October 26, 2017) The jeers and whistles rang out with venom. But that wasn’t going to stop Ksenia Sobchak: She was the one on stage, and she was the one holding the mic. Standing in front of a crowd riled up by the previous three weeks of protests against President Vladimir Putin, […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 27, 2017) More than 50 percent of Russians surveyed in a recent independent poll are ready to give President Vladimir Putin a fourth term in office. Asked who they’d vote for if the elections were held this Sunday, 53 percent named Putin. One in five couldn’t name who they’d vote for, while one in […]
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“The news that Ksenia Sobchak, part-time opposition gadfly, erstwhile reality TV host, and full-time celebrity, plans to stand in the 2018 presidential elections has – rightly – been interpreted as a Kremlin bid to ‘sex up’ what otherwise seemed unbearably tedious elections and also to split Alexei Navalny’s opposition camp. That Sobchak presented herself as the ‘against everyone’ candidate, simply […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – October 24, 2017) In her first press conference since announcing her bid for the presidency, Ksenia Sobchak on Tuesday said Igor Malashenko, who once helped Boris Yeltsin to the presidency, would be joining her campaign team. Sobchak unexpectedly announced last week she would run in presidential elections in March next year. Although President Vladimir Putin […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 25 (Interfax) – The “against all” option is necessary and may reappear on Russian election ballots in the medium-term future, Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Matviyenko said. “As for this option, I still think it is necessary and I am sure it will reappear in the medium-term future,” Matviyenko told reporters on Wednesday. The “against all” option is still […]
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ST. PETERSBURG. Oct 25 (Interfax) – The Left Front movement will resume its activity before the Russian presidential election, movement coordinator Sergei Udaltsov told reporters in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. “We’d like to declare that the left-wing movement in Russia is not just looking back but is also mindful of the future,” Udaltsov said, adding that it was not accidental […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, October 22, 2017) Most commentators accept that Vladimir Putin will easily win re-election as president but suggest that both the level of participation and the number of votes cast for him and his opponent will reflect a division between those who support the Kremlin leader and his system and those who oppose […]
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[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”true” /][contact-field label=”Website” type=”url” /][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea” /][/contact-form] “Television host, socialite, and LʼOfficiel Russia chief editor Ksenia Sobchak announced on October 18 that she intends to run for president next year, confirming rumors that have circulated for the past six weeks. We still know very little about her campaign, though there are reports […]
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(Article ©2017 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – October 17, 2017 – article also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-navalny-elections-pamfilova-presidency/28799529.html) Russia’s top election official says that opposition politician Aleksei Navalny will not be eligible to run for office until about 2028. Speaking at a youth festival in the southern city of Sochi, Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova warned Navalny and […]
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“Vitali Shkliarov, a 41-year-old political operative born in Belarus, speaks the gospel of Bernie Sanders in the style of a Silicon Valley executive. Technology, he says, is a key to access …. The idea got a test drive in Moscow’s recent municipal elections … the veteran of the Sanders and … Obama campaigns sees it as part of a worldwide movement. * […]
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(Kremlin.ru – October 9, 2017) Vladimir Putin had a working meeting with Chairperson of the Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova, who informed the President of the outcomes of elections that took place on the unified voting day, September 10, 2017. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Ms Pamfilova, could you share your assessment of the outcomes of the unified voting day? […]
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(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, September 27, 2017) Vladimir Putin views the upcoming presidential elections as being not so much about legitimizing him as the leader of the Russian people but rather as a ruler “who wants to write him name down in history,” according to Tatyana Stanovaya; and that shift will affect both the campaign and […]
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(Article ©2017 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW – September 25, 2017) [Text with video, graphics, and links at https://www.rferl.org/a/sobchak-navalny-putin-kremlin-election-presidency-rumors/28756447.html] Kremlin foe Aleksei Navalny is trading barbs with Russian celebrity and TV host Ksenia Sobchak over speculation she will run for the Russian presidency in March — a rumor widely discussed in media […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Ivan Davydov – September 20, 2017) Ivan Davydov is a Russian journalist and writer. His articles can be seen at The New Times, Republic, Inliberty and Gazeta.ru, among other publications. The Russian opposition enjoyed an unexpectedly decent showing at the municipal council elections in Moscow last week. The Yabloko political party, having broken with its own traditions by […]
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“… Generally, the administrative policy throughout was to tightly control the gubernatorial and mayoral elections, where turnout is seen as key to the legitimacy of the outcome. …”
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – September 11, 2017) On Sunday, 82 Russian regions held elections for different levels of government. The elections traditionally attract little interest. But this year the vote was widely seen as a bell-weather for mayoral elections in Moscow and presidential elections next year. In the sixteen regions which held gubernatorial elections, United Russia won every seat. […]
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“Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to be nominated as a presidential candidate in November. The procedure for nominating the current president as a candidate for a new term will be held in two stages, Kommersant reports, citing sources in the Kremlin where closed meetings on the upcoming presidential elections in 2018 have been held. …”
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MOSCOW. Sept 11 (Interfax) – Over 260 members of the United Democrats team, which comprised members of the Yabloko, Parnas parties, the Communist Party of Russia and independent candidates, were elected municipal deputies in Moscow according to the results of the September 10 election, the organizer of the coalition, opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov said. “According to the latest data, we […]
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