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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin |
| 2023-12-24 |
| [BBC] A former TV journalist who announced she would challenge President Putin in Russia's spring election has been barred from standing. Independent politician Yekaterina Duntsova wanted to run on a platform to end the war with Ukraine. But the electoral commission voted unanimously to reject her candidacy three days after her application, citing 100 "mistakes" on her form. Ms Duntsova said she would appeal the decision at the Supreme Court. The presidential election, which will be held in March 2024, is Russia's first since President Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago. The immediate slap-down of a Putin critic will be seen as evidence by some that no dissent will be tolerated in the campaign. The head of Russia's electoral commission, Ella Pamfilova, said Ms Duntsova would not be allowed to progress to the next stage of gathering thousands of supporters' signatures. "You are a young woman, you have everything ahead of you. Any minus can always be turned into a plus. Any experience is still an experience," she told Ms Duntsova, 40, after the decision. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |