Russia has decided on the date of the presidential elections. 71-year-old dictator Vladimir Putin has not yet announced his intention to run for a fifth time, but it is clear that the entire presidential campaign in the Russian Federation will be aimed at his next “re-election”.
What is known about the presidential elections in Russia in 2024, who will run and what to expect in Ukraine – further in the material.
- When are the presidential elections in Russia 2024
- Russian presidential candidates 2024
- What is known about the presidential elections in Russia 2024
- What to expect for Ukraine
- Pseudo-elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine
When are the presidential elections in Russia 2024
The upper house of the Russian parliament – the Federation Council, at a meeting on Thursday, December 7, approved the date of the next presidential elections of the Russian Federation. They will be held on March 17, 2024.
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This decision actually kicked off the election campaign in the aggressor country.
At the same time, voting is planned to be held over three days: from March 15 to 17. The Russian Central Election Commission will consider the corresponding draft resolution tomorrow, December 8.
The cynicism lies in the fact that they want to organize so-called elections in four partially occupied regions of Ukraine: Zaporozhye, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk.
Russian presidential candidates 2024
• Dictator Vladimir Putin
At the moment, the fourth presidential term of the Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin is ending.
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He held this post from 2000-2008. At that time, the term of presidential powers in the Russian Federation was 4 years.
Subsequently, a semblance of “democracy” was created in Moscow. and changes in power. Putin moved to the post of head of government, and Dmitry Medvedev took the presidential chair.
Since 2012, Putin returned to the highest position in the country and was re-elected in 2018. The presidential term was increased to 6 years.
Photo: Getty Images
The dictator has not yet officially announced his participation in the 2024 elections. Although few doubt that this will happen, the Kremlin began to prepare the ground in advance.
Previously, the same person had the right to hold the post of President of Russia for no more than two consecutive terms. However, in 2020, Putin initiated amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, “nullifying” his previous presidential terms. This allows the dictator to be “elected” head of the Russian Federation twice more: in 2024 and 2030.
In early November, Reuters, citing sources, reported that Putin had decided to remain as President of the Russian Federation and would run in the 2024 elections.
The speaker of the Kremlin dictator Dmitry Peskov at different times stated that the next head of the Russian Federation should be “the same”, that no one can compete with Putin in the elections“”, and also that “it has no competitors now and cannot have any in the Russian Federation”.
December 7, the party A Just Russia – For Truth announced plans to nominate Putin for president in the 2024 elections. At the same time, Peskov said that “so far there have been no statements from Putin”, and advised “to be patient”.
It is possible that some kind of statement will be made December 14, 2023 during Putin’s big press conference – the first since the start of a full-scale war.
• Other candidates
As Deutsche Welle reports, five candidates have already announced their intentions to participate in the 2024 presidential elections in Russia. Among them:
- Terrorist, ex-leader of militants “DPR” Igor Strelkov (Girkin), who is currently in jail on charges of “calling for extremist activities”.
- Ex-deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation from the Union of Right Forces Boris Nadezhdin. On his website, in the manifesto for the upcoming elections, slogans such as “peace”, “freedom of speech”, “cooperation”, &# 8220;civil society” and “fair elections”.
- Journalist, search and rescue team coordinator, former deputy of the Rzhev City Council Ekaterina Duntsova. She allegedly advocates “a cessation of hostilities, democratic reforms, and the release of political prisoners”.
- Former St. Petersburg official, and now courier Sergei Lipatov.
- Head of the National Pension Association, former deputy chairman of the Moscow branch of the Yabloko party Anatoly Rabinovich.
The DW publication calls these candidates “ritual opponents” Putin.
Journalists note that the result of the presidential campaign is actually predetermined in advance. However, the Kremlin may allow a number of so-called opposition candidates to increase Russian turnout and restart its legitimacy.
What is known about the presidential elections in Russia 2024
• Preparing voters for “record turnout”
The inauguration of the newly elected president of Russia may take place as early as early May 2024.
Meanwhile, Russian voters are being prepared for “record turnout” in areas.
For example, in August, Dmitry Peskov told The New York Times that the presidential elections in the Russian Federation are “not exactly democracy, it is an expensive bureaucracy”, and Putin “ will be re-elected next year with more than 90% of the vote”. Subsequently, Peskov, in a comment to Russian propagandists, tried to disown the forecast of “90% of the votes”.
Photo: Unsplash
According to the publication Meduza, the Kremlin decided that Putin should get more than 80% of the votes in the 2024 elections. They want to achieve this result using different methods: with the votes of real supporters of the dictator, administrative resources, electronic voting, etc.
The publication also argued that Putin’s opponents in the elections should be politicians at least 50 years old, so that the dictator “doesn’t seem like a grandfather”.
• Campaign Russia without Putin
Meanwhile, Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation launched a campaign Russia without Putin.
They call for voting against the Kremlin dictator in the presidential elections.
– For Putin, the 2024 elections are a referendum on approval of his actions, on approval of the war. On March 17, Russia must realize that the majority does not want to see Putin at the head of the country. The voting results will be falsified, but our task is to make it obvious to everyone that Russia no longer needs Putin, — says the campaign website.
Russians are urged to come to the polling stations on March 17 and vote against Putin, checking the boxes for any other candidate.
In addition, the Foundation called on residents of the Russian Federation to use the time before the elections to campaign against the dictator. It is noted that “every active citizen must set himself a simple goal in the next 100 days: to convince at least 10 people to oppose Putin”.
Navalny’s team has placed billboards in a number of Russian cities. They have a QR code that leads to the Russia without Putin campaign website.
What to expect for Ukraine
• Putin's re-election and military actions
ICTV Facts asked political scientist, head of political and legal programs at the Ukrainian Center for Social Development Igor Reiterovich, what to expect from these elections in Ukraine and what threats they may pose.
– Expect Putin’s election. Since this is not the date of the presidential election, it is the date of Putin's election. I don't think there will be any surprises here. They will draw some very large number for him. They will try to portray a large turnout: this is the main problem for them now, because they need to show the enthusiasm of the people, — noted political scientist.
Reiterovich explained that it is worth observing the slogans with which the dictator will conduct the election campaign. Some “conclusions for next year” can be done after Putin's press conference on December 14.
Igor Reiterovich suggested that the Kremlin will position Russia as a fortress under siege, and Putin as a leader around whom it is necessary to unite. The Russians will be convinced that the Russian Federation “will definitely win”, but they still need “to be patient a little, somewhere until the end of 2024, and then Trump will win the elections”.
– Most likely there will be such a narrative. The entire campaign will be aimed at shaping him (Putin, – Red.) into the image of a national leader who, in difficult times, remains with his country, with his people, and supports him . And first of all, he is not so much even the president, because they are already removing the topic of social affairs, and they will talk about him as the commander in chief. This is the main message,” said the political scientist.
According to Reiterovich, Ukraine should expect “intensification of some efforts” occupiers who will try change the situation on the battlefield in your favor.
“They won’t succeed, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to do their best in some way,” he emphasized.
According to Igor Reiterovich, there is another scenario, which is mentioned in the Russian Federation “from time to time”. We are talking about trying after the New Year, on the eve of the presidential campaign, to mold Putin into almost an image of a peacemaker.
– On the contrary, let’s “make peace”, somehow sit down at the table, agree on something and end the war. It will be announced that the “goals have been achieved” and you can engage in peaceful life, lifting sanctions, and so on. But this is a very unlikely scenario. “This something extraordinary must happen for him (Putin, – Ed.) to agree to this,” added the political scientist.
• Mobilization in the Russian Federation
Igor Reiterovich also commented on whether total mobilization is possible in the Russian Federation after the so-called re-election of Putin. For example, earlier British intelligence reported that it was the elections that were holding the Kremlin back from announcing another wave of mobilization.
According to Reiterovich, Russia may indeed increase the volume of mobilization after the election campaign, but “hardly in total terms”.
– This is a probable story, but I do not believe in such a total mobilization for one simple reason: not because they do not want or cannot do it. They can organize this. The problem is that this total mobilization will lead to nothing, because they have nothing to clothe or arm those who are being totally mobilized with. This is the key point. But a certain increase in the pace – yes, such an attempt can be made,” said the political scientist.
Photo: Getty Images
He noticed that on the battlefield “now they don’t fight solely in quantity, they fight primarily in quality”, and with this the occupiers “have certain problems& #8221;. So the amount “may give some limited effect”.
Pseudo-elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine
As already noted, Moscow may announce pseudo-elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Zaporozhye, Kherson, Lugansk and Donetsk regions.
Previously, the Kremlin “turned” these Ukrainian regions “part of the Russian Federation” based on the results of pseudo-referendums held at gunpoint by the occupiers. At the same time, the aggressor does not completely control the territory of any of the regions.
Decision on “election” in the occupied territories of Ukraine the Russian Central Election Commission will accept until December 12, “after consultations with the FSB, the Ministry of Defense and other departments”.
According to the head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Ella Pamfilova, “the procedure for holding elections there will be somewhat different” from voting in Russia. She did not specify how exactly.
Traditionally, the aggressor organizes elections in temporarily occupied Crimea.
Political scientist Igor Reiterovich explained that holding pseudo-elections at WOT carries several threats:
- further total passportization of Ukrainians will take place;
- In the future, the Kremlin will try to manipulate this issue in the international arena to legalize the occupation of Ukrainian territories.
– For us, this poses a threat to total passportization, which they will continue to carry out at an aggressive pace. Of course, they will create a certain picture that there is some kind of turnout there, people “support”. They believe that in this way they will finally “tie” these regions to the Russian Federation. And here is the moment – they will hope that if these elections (of the President of the Russian Federation, — Ed.) are recognized in the world, they will say: well, you recognized it as sovereign territory, and sovereign territory is these four regions, — Reiterovich explained.
According to the political scientist, the countries of the world in this situation can take the following position: they recognize the presidential elections in Russia as “undemocratic, but valid”. And at the same time, they will separately emphasize that they do not recognize the “expression of will” made in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Official Kyiv, of course, will make statements about the inadmissibility of pseudo-elections at the WTO.
– The best thing that Ukraine, namely our Armed Forces, can do in this situation: on the eve or during the elections, simply liberate these territories, and it will be a very good picture, & #8212; noted Igor Reiterovich.
The political scientist believes that the occupiers can take this option into account. And this will “minimize their attempts to do anything” in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
