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Russians were spared oppositionists in the presidential elections
The latest intrigue of the current election campaign ended yesterday with a predictable decision by the Central Election Commission: ex-Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov was denied the right to run for the highest government post. Thus, out of 25 self-nominated candidates, the Central Election Commission allowed only one to participate in the elections - the leader of the Democratic Party, Andrei Bogdanov, who is absolutely loyal to the Kremlin and practically unknown to voters .Tsikovsky experts checked 600 thousand signatures from 2 million autographs collected by fans of Mr. Kasyanov in support of his candidacy. 80,261 signatures were recognized as unreliable and invalid, that is, 13.38% with the maximum permitted by law of 5%. This was precisely the official reason for not allowing the leader of the Russian People’s Democratic Union, who “disagrees” with the federal government, to participate in the presidential elections.
Nevertheless, this decision was regarded by the vast majority of analysts as squeezing the opposition out of the political process. In an effort to avert suspicions of political bias, the Central Election Commission spent the previous week patiently preparing the ground for yesterday's refusal. It was loudly announced that there was a high percentage of defective signatures after the first check of documents, and journalists were shown some samples of obviously forged signatures. All newspapers were circulated by photographs of fake autographs allegedly left by Saltykov-Shchedrin’s literary heroes Ferdyshchenko and Brudasty in support of Mr. Kasyanov. In parallel, law enforcement agencies opened criminal cases of falsification of signature sheets in the Republic of Mari El and the Yaroslavl region, and police carried out a number of checks in other subjects of the federation.
The candidate’s fate was already obvious, but CEC representatives continued to insist at briefings and press conferences that he “has a chance.” The secretary of the commission, Nikolai Konkin, explained in somewhat vague terms that Mr. Kasyanov’s representatives should “submit objections,” which the working group could take into account and “return” the corresponding signatures, counting them as valid. Indeed, as many as 114 autographs were “returned” to the ex-premier - 0.2% of the number checked. Meanwhile, about 31 thousand signatures from the Tver region alone were rejected on a formal basis - the documents lacked a notarized list of collectors. The Central Election Commission asked him to provide it, which Kasyanovites did. However, yesterday commission member Elvira Ermakova said that the law does not allow “reporting” documents. Also, almost 4.5 thousand autographs were rejected because the candidate himself or his proxies did not sign the documents.
Mr. Kasyanov’s assistant, Elena Dikun, told a Vremya Novostei correspondent yesterday that the failed candidate had taken a time out to consult with his associates and would decide today whether to challenge the CEC’s decision in the Supreme Court. In turn, Konstantin Merzlikin, the head of Mr. Kasyanov’s election headquarters, said that it was futile to seek justice in court: “This is part of the vertical of power, it is difficult to find a legal solution.”
Thus, on March 2, Russians will receive a ballot at the polling stations containing only four names - First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, as well as LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of the Democratic Party Andrei Bogdanov and the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov. The latter was called yesterday to boycott the elections by ex-SPS leader Boris Nemtsov, who a month ago withdrew his candidacy from the elections in favor of Mr. Kasyanov. “As the only representative of the opposition among the candidates for the presidency, the leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation must seriously think about the advisability of participating in this farce,” Mr. Nemtsov said.
Meanwhile, the Central Election Commission is preparing a letter to the Prosecutor General’s Office about falsification of signature sheets. Nikolai Konkin assured reporters yesterday that this is a standard procedure following the verification of voters' autographs.
Yesterday, a statement by Mikhail Kasyanov was circulated. He called the decision to refuse his registration as a candidate for the presidency of the Russian Federation political and blamed the consequences of this step on the country's leadership. “There is no doubt that the decision not to register my candidacy, like all important political decisions in the “vertical” system, was made personally by Vladimir Putin,” the statement says. “The current government will bear full responsibility for this.” According to Mr. Kasyanov, hopes for the development of the political process in the constitutional field have not yet been realized. The ex-presidential candidate believes that the current political system in Russia, “as in the USSR , is not amenable to any improvement either from within or from without." "Those who think that we have lost are mistaken. We, in spite of everything, won because we maintained our honor and dignity, having done everything that depended on us in the current situation. Those who think that our campaign is over are mistaken. Our campaign is just beginning. Everyone can contribute to the construction of a new Russia,” said the ex-prime minister. He thanked everyone who had supported him over the past three years.