Four Confirmed Russian Presidential Candidates... "No Visible Challenger to Putin"

The list of candidates for the Russian presidential election next month has been finalized.

The Central Election Commission of Russia announced on the 11th (local time) that the list of candidates for the presidential election to be held from the 15th to the 17th of next month has been confirmed.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

원본보기 아이콘

Four candidates have registered for this presidential election: incumbent President Vladimir Putin (71), running as an independent for his fifth term; Leonid Slutsky (56) of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR); Vladislav Davankov (39) of the New People party; and Nikolai Kharitonov (75) of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

Among the three candidates from parties represented in the State Duma?Slutsky, Davankov, and Kharitonov?there is no contender expected to block President Putin’s bid for a fifth term.

In a poll released the previous day, when asked who they would vote for if the presidential election were held next Sunday, 75% of respondents said they would vote for Putin. Davankov received 5%, while Kharitonov and Slutsky each garnered 4%.

If President Putin succeeds in winning a fifth term following his victories in 2000, 2004, 2012, and 2018, his administration will be extended until 2030. He recorded his highest vote share of 76.69% in the 2018 election.

In this election, Slutsky, Davankov, and Kharitonov are expected to compete for second place. All three share the commonality of supporting Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and have been included on sanction lists by the United States, the United Kingdom, and others.

Slutsky has led the pro-government LDPR party since May 2022 and has served as chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee since October 2016. Upon announcing his candidacy, he stated that he would not take votes away from Russian President Putin and predicted that Putin would win regardless of his own participation.

Kharitonov is a veteran politician who has served as a State Duma deputy since 1993 and ran in the 2004 presidential election, receiving 13.69% of the vote, the second-highest after Putin.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation, to which he belongs, holds the second-largest number of seats in the State Duma after United Russia and has consistently placed second in presidential elections.

Although Kharitonov has criticized current government policies except for the special military operation in Ukraine, he has stated that he does not plan to criticize President Putin during this election period.

Davankov is the current deputy chairman of the State Duma and placed fourth with 5.34% of the vote in last year’s Moscow mayoral election. Davankov has attracted attention for the possibility of joining forces with Boris Nadezhdin of the Civic Initiative party, an extra-parliamentary party whose candidate registration was rejected by the Central Election Commission in this election.

Local media reported that Davankov is willing to meet with Nadezhdin next week to discuss potential cooperation.

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.