Vladimir Putin russia election Who are the first two candidates authorized to face Putin in the elections? World

this friday the 5th National Election Commission of Russia Authorized the registration of Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and Vladislav Davankov of the New People’s Party as candidates for the March 2024 presidential elections, with the clear favorite being the current President Vladimir PutinWho will seek re-election.

Look: Elections 2024 in America and Russia: Tough fight between Biden and Trump, while Putin has assured of victory

The master and lord of Russian politics since assuming the presidency in 2000, Putin’s last re-election was recorded in 2018 when he won with 76.69% of the votes, while his nearest rival Pavel Grudiny got 11.77% of the votes. Had met.

A new law signed in 2021 also opened the door for him to continue leading Russia until 2036.

For the elections to be held between March 15 and 17, Putin will face – for the time being – two politicians who are in agreement both in their approach to national foreign policy and in the internal management of the legislature controlled by the ruling United Russia.

A month earlier, the National Election Commission rejected the registration of journalist Yekaterina Duntsova, who is in favor of ending the war in Ukraine; And it was recently reported that the registration of Nikolai Kharitonov, Putin’s opponent in the 2004 elections, has not yet been accepted.

All these conditions, and the profiles of his virtual electoral rivals, cast doubt on Putin’s efforts to give a democratic veneer to apparently guaranteed elections.

– Two weak rivals –

Slutsky, born in Moscow 56 years ago and an economist by profession, worked as a banker and adviser to the mayor of Moscow before becoming a deputy in December 1999. He has since renewed his place in the Duma election after election and in 2016 became. Chairman of the International Affairs Committee of Parliament.

From his positions he has defended and supported the Kremlin’s foreign policy on more than one occasion. This led to Slutsky becoming one of the first people sanctioned by the United States government following the 2014 referendum on the annexation of Crimea. With the resulting crisis on the peninsula, Canada and the European Union added it to their sanctioned lists.

An investigation by the independent channel Dozhd also revealed that Slutsky funded pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk through one of his foundations linked to the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 2018, Slutsky was accused of sexual harassment by three journalists and a television production company. However, and despite the fact that more and more voices were added against the MP, including a statement by Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zazarova, Slutsky was cleared of the scandal thanks to the shield provided by the Duma commission. , which determined there was no “breach of conduct” on their part.

Davankov, on the other hand, serves as deputy speaker of the Duma and his formation called New People holds 15 of the chamber’s 450 seats.

Born 39 years ago in the city of Smolensk, Davankov worked at the Faberlic company, which was founded by businessman and politician Alexei Nechaev, who later took him to the nascent New People’s Party, and thereby rose to the Duma in 2021.

A month later, by the decision of Vyacheslav Volodin, he was appointed deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament. In 2022, he was sanctioned by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Ukraine because he was one of the officials who supported Putin’s efforts to establish an alliance between The decision was confirmed. Separatist rebels from Donetsk and Lugansk.

Furthermore, the West accuses him of being a person who “provides political and economic support to Russia’s illegal efforts to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory through a false referendum.”