Volodin advised Navalny, who decided to become president, to “dream about something else”

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin considered it impossible for opposition leader Alexei Navalny to participate in the presidential elections. In his opinion, the law does not allow such a possibility, writes the Vedomosti newspaper.

“Why is he (Navalny, - ed .) thinking about this? Let him read the laws, he’s a lawyer. His intention must first of all be based on the law. If the law allows him, then he can talk about something. And when the law doesn’t allow it, why mislead people?” Volodin told the journalist before the start of a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and the leadership of the chambers of the Federal Assembly.

To this, the journalist objected that Navalny now has no criminal record that would prevent him from running for president.

“I’m not ready to interpret it in your interpretation,” Volodin replied. - Because if the law is observed today, then we must proceed from this. Then he needs to dream about something else, and not about elections. And if we begin to attach this to decisions that are made somewhere, and then refer to this norm, then we can discuss a lot and agree on who knows what.”

On December 13, Alexei Navalny announced his candidacy for the presidency of Russia - a year and a half before the presidential elections. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, answering the question of how the Kremlin views the nomination of Alexei Navalny, answered “No way.”

A month before this statement, the Russian Supreme Court, at the direction of the European Court of Human Rights, overturned Navalny’s sentence in the Kirovles case. After his conviction for a serious crime was cleared, Navalny legally received the right to participate in elections. Currently, the Kirovles case is being reviewed in court again.