The journalist Yekaterina Duntsova presented this Wednesday to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Russia the package of documents to register the support group that will support her candidacy for the Russian presidency in the presidential elections next March.
“We have just delivered to the CEC the package of documents for the registration of the popular initiative group that supported my candidacy for the presidency of Russia on December 17,” he stated on his Telegram. According to Duntsova, from now on the CEC has five days to study the documents and register the group.
“I will emphasize that there are no grounds to deny registration. After that we will be able to open the (bank) account and begin a new stage of our campaign, the collection of signatures” necessary for independent candidates, he said.
The journalist added that centers will be opened to collect signatures in many cities in the country. “We will need volunteers to work on them. As before, I rely on your help. I hope we can all do it together and collect 300,000 signatures by the end of January,” she said.
Last Sunday, Duntsova, 40, received the support of 521 of the more than 700 attendees at an independent congress held in Moscow. The journalist announced her electoral plans in mid-November, arguing that “in the last ten years the country has moved in the wrong direction,” a path that leads to “self-destruction.” Among other proposals, she advocates for the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, the introduction of democratic reforms and the release of political prisoners.
According to Russian electoral authorities, in addition to Duntsova, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will seek reelection, and ultranationalist leader Leonid Slutsky, 13 other candidates have submitted their applications to participate in the Russian presidential elections.
The opposition to the Kremlin considers that the elections will be a referendum on the current war, in which Russia has not achieved the objectives it set in February 2022 and would have suffered, according to the West, more than 300,000 casualties. Political scientists anticipate that Putin will receive “a level of support greater than 70%” on March 17, 2024, while some predict that it will even exceed 76.7% in 2018.
According to official surveys in recent days, 80% of Russians approve of the management of Putin, who has presided over this country since 2000, with a four-year hiatus (2008-2012) as prime minister.