Ukraine

Russia Bans Anti-War Candidate From Presidential Election

Published DEC 26 2023

Story

Image credit: Getty Images News [via Getty Images]

The Facts

Former TV journalist Ekaterina Duntsova, who had last week applied to run in next year's Russian presidential elections to challenge Pres. Vladimir Putin, has been disqualified as a candidate.
Voice of America
Russia's Central Election Commission voted unanimously to reject her candidacy on Saturday, citing 100 "mistakes" in her nomination papers.
BBC News
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that Duntsova — who claims that the decision to ban her is biased — had filed an appeal to the Supreme Court.
NPR
Duntsova has previously stressed her right to stand in elections under federal law, dismissing concerns about the need for permission from the authorities. She had called for a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine war and aimed to promote her vision of a more "humane Russia."
Independent
The 40-year-old's attempted candidacy is also suspected by some of being backed by the Kremlin — allegations she denies — while her supporters are concerned about possible prosecution under Russia's strict laws enacted during the Ukraine conflict.
Dagens
She also unsuccessfully approached the liberal founder of the Yabloko party, Grigory Yavlinsky, about representing his party. Russia's Communist Party, which has come in a distant second to Putin in every election since 2000, has nominated Nikolai Kharitonov. Meanwhile, the fellow nominal opposition party, A Just Russia - For Truth, will back Putin.
guardian

Sources Split

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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

The immediate slap-down of a Putin critic demonstrates the lengths to which Moscow will go to crack down on people who dare to protest his autocratic regime, attempt to end the war in Ukraine, or free political prisoners. It shows that no dissent will be tolerated in the campaign to give Putin — who, after Duntsova's cancellation, remains the only politician to be able to register as a candidate — a clean slate to win again.

Dw.Com

Establishment-critical narrative

The American government and media criticizing Russia's political system while simultaneously trying to imprison one of their own top presidential candidates is hypocrisy at its finest. The US establishment didn't like Donald Trump's anti-imperialism foreign policy and therefore sought to ban him from running for election again — the pot is certainly calling the kettle black here.

RT International