A former TV journalist, who opposes the war in Ukraine and who on Saturday (23) was disqualified from the next presidential election in Russia, filed an appeal against the decision with the Supreme Court.
Members of the country's central electoral commission voted unanimously to reject Yekaterina Duntsova's candidacy, citing “numerous violations” in the documents she had submitted.
After filing an appeal with the Supreme Court, Duntsova made it clear that she did not expect the measure to be successful. She is not well known throughout Russia and admits to commanding a support base of thousands of people in a country with more than 140 million inhabitants.
However, Duntsova, 40, said she was unfairly barred from taking part in the contest. There is wide expectation that the election will be won by current president Vladimir Putin, in power, as president or prime minister, for more than 20 years.
By not letting her run, Duntsova said authorities deprived some young Russians of a way to express their opinions within a tightly controlled political system.
This, according to her, could fuel apathy and a boycott of the election scheduled for March by some voters.
“I have the feeling that the field [de candidatos] is being emptied… It is not advantageous for you [as autoridades]above all, that there is no one left, that the list of candidates [só] have people over 70 years old,” she said.
“Where are the youth representatives? Where are the representatives of the people who want to talk about peace, about democratic values, about reform, about trust in the institution of power?”
The central electoral commission maintains that its decisions are purely rules-based and that its job is to ensure that potential candidates follow correct procedures.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, without mentioning Duntsova by name, that the Constitution allows people with political ambitions to run for president if they meet the legal criteria to do so.
The Kremlin points to opinion polls that give Putin, 71, an approval rating of around 80%, and says the majority of Russians support what it calls Russia's “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Source: CNN Brasil
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