Russian anti-war activist files for presidential candidacy

Former MP Boris Nadezhdin, who opposes the war in Ukraine, has collected the required 100,000 signatures to register as a candidate for Russian president.

Boris Nadezhdin and his assistants today delivered dozens of boxes labeled "Nadezhdin 2024" to the office of the Central Election Commission (CEC) in Moscow, inside were 105,000 signatures of supporters, meeting the requirements for him to register as a presidential candidate.

"This is my team, everyone is pale because they haven't slept much lately, but we did it," Nadezhdin told reporters, referring to the rule that Russian presidential candidates must collect at least 100,000 signatures.

Nadezhdin, 60, has 30 years of experience in Russian politics, including a brief stint as a member of the lower house of parliament. He has recently attracted attention for his pledge to end the conflict in Ukraine if elected and is seen as a potential challenger to President Vladimir Putin in the March election.

The CEC must make a decision on Nadezhdin's eligibility to run within 10 days of receiving the documents. During that time, the commission will verify the authenticity of the signatures provided.

Boris Nadezhdin speaks to the media after submitting his signature to the Central Election Commission of Russia in Moscow on January 31. Photo: AFP

Speaking to the media at the election commission headquarters, Mr Nadezhdin stressed that all the signatures were collected in Russia, in accordance with the regulations, and that they did not include signatures collected abroad. He also said that his campaign was entirely funded by tens of thousands of donations from "ordinary people".

"President Putin made a mistake by starting a special military operation in Ukraine," Nadezhdin said, adding that he would work to end the fighting through negotiations.

President Putin, 71 years old, was officially registered on January 29 as a candidate for the Russian presidential election taking place on March 15-17, after meeting the requirements for valid signatures.

President Putin is the fourth person to be confirmed as a candidate by the CEC. The previous three were Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) leader Leonid Slutsky, MP Vladislav Davankov and MP Nikolay Kharitonov.

Huyen Le (According to AFP , Reuters )

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