Russia: War opponent Nadezhdin excluded from election
As expected, anti-war activist Boris Nadezhdin has not been admitted to the Russian presidential election in mid-March. According to the Central Election Commission, 9,147 of the 105,000 signatures submitted were invalid. The fact that Nadezhdin was barely given a chance against the incumbent Putin has not mitigated the criticism in the opinion columns.
Soviet Union 2.0
The last remnants of pluralism have disappeared, says The Spectator:
“What's interesting is not that he was barred, but what this whole process says about the evolution of 'late Putinism'. ...Elections in late Putinism are, just as in Soviet times, rituals of civic duty, not about the people choosing their leader, but expressing their submission instead. Once, new terms like 'hybrid authoritarianism' were coined for Putin's system, but there's precious little 'hybridity' now, as late Putinism increasingly comes to resemble Brezhnev's Soviet Union, albeit with a personality cult replacing the Party.”
Putin's popularity a flimsy construct
In a Facebook post, political scientist Abbas Gallyamov describes the move as proof of the weakness of Putin's real support among the electorate:
“It has now been officially confirmed that Putin's mega-popularity, constantly referred to in official sociology, this whole 'rallying round the national leader' that Kremlin spokesman Peskov regularly speaks of - is in fact all just a highly artificial and unstable construction that cannot withstand any encounter with reality. As soon as someone blows on it, it simply collapses. Even an unknown provincial journalist [Ekaterina Duntsova] and a liberal permanent whipping boy from television [Nadezhdin] pose a threat to this construct. Look: the emperor is naked!”
A brutal dictatorship
NRC observes that what has happened to Nadezhdin is typical of today's Russia:
“The way Putin is orchestrating his election victory and making any opposition impossible emphasises the extent to which Russia has become a brutal dictatorship. He has one main objective in still holding elections: he wants to show his subjects that he enjoys the support of an overwhelming proportion of the population. Elections are intended to legitimise his regime so that he can continue on his chosen path. But the routine spectacle that is performed time after time in Russia has nothing to do with democracy and free elections. And as long as Putin is in charge, this will not change.”
Elections just a farce
The Kleine Zeitung newspaper is not surprised by Nadezhdin's exclusion:
“Putin, whose fifth term in office is considered a given, apparently considers him to be dangerous enough to have him removed from the race before it really starts. Now only three candidates with no chance of winning remain; the other candidates either support Putin directly or have no profile. An 'election' as a fatal farce. Silencing critics of the system is also one of the main characteristics of a dictatorship - along with the elimination of critical media and the arrest of anyone else who shows the courage to resist. ... Putin? He even had the constitution rewritten and could run for office again in 2030. A regime light years away from anything European.”
No chance of a final victory over opponents
New cracks will keep opening up in Putin's system of rule, Zeit Online predicts:
“Putin may throw as many critics as he likes into prison or drive them abroad. New opponents will keep emerging. ... None of this means that Putin's power is under threat. Or that there is a silent majority that rejects his policies. All polls, whether independent or state-organised, indicate this is not the case. Putin will undoubtedly remain in power. But he will never be able to achieve a final victory over the opponents of his policies and their hopes for change.”