From Melekhovo prison, Alexei Navalny on Monday, August 21, called on Russians to vote for “any candidate”, except those in power, in the next regional elections. During this election, which is to be held on September 10, the Russians must notably elect the mayor of Moscow and various regional governors.
“We must act wisely and step back, voting for any candidate and any party against United Russia [the presidential party],” he wrote in a blog post to both in Russian and in English.
Mr. Navalny also considers it necessary to “support people who wish to run” and to “keep alive what is left of the procedures” for observing the polls. The opponent says he wants Russians to “keep up the habit of going to the polls” because “sooner or later” “free elections will be held” in the country.
However, he warned that he expected a high level of fraud. For example, he considers the election of the capital’s mayor to be “skewed” and “meaningless”. This vote is seen more broadly by the opposition as tailored to serve the ruling party.
Wave of repression
Alexeï Navalny was imprisoned on his return from Germany at the beginning of 2021, after surviving in extremis a poisoning which he attributes to the Russian security services which would have acted on orders from the Kremlin. In early August, he was sentenced to nineteen years in prison for “extremism”.
Already convicted on numerous occasions, Alexeï Navalny saw justice hounding him before the conflict in Ukraine, but his fate has worsened since. He says he is also being prosecuted for a “terrorism” case in another proceeding, of which few details are known at this time.
In the 18th month of the assault on Ukraine, the Russian population is facing a wave of repression targeting both prominent opponents and the thousands of ordinary citizens who criticized the offensive.
