Putin and Seven Others Prepare for Russia’s Looming Presidential Elections

President Vladimir PutinRussian President Vladimir Putin .Photo: wikimedia.org

Russian President Vladimir Putin is among the eight formally approved politicians who are vying for position as they eye March 18ths upcoming Russian presidential elections.

 

Russia’s central electoral commission said Tuesday that President Putin is running as an independent candidate and that he’s obtained the 300,000 signatures required to participate and launch his formal election campaign.

 

Among the presidential contenders, the LDPR party’s right republican Vladimir Zjirinovsky and the Russian Communist Party’s candidate Pavel Grudinin have registered as legitimate presidential candidates.

 

The TV celebrity / journalist Ksenia Sobtsjack has met the formal requirements to run as a liberal candidate and has repeatedly criticized the political system Putin has developed.

 

Also in Russian presidential contention is veteran Grigorij Javlinsky from the Liberal Jabloko party, business candidate Boris Titov, Communist candidate Maksim Surajkin and Sergey Baburin from the party Folkeunion reports the Russian newspaper Kommersant.

 

President Putin has been in major power since 2000 with service as Prime Minister 2008 – 2012.

According to poll numbers; Of the 109 million participating Russians, President Putin appears to have about 70 percent of the vote.

However, the Kremlin fears that a  low voter participation turnout could undermine the election process and its results.

Opposition politician Aleksej Navalnyj has called for a boycott of the pending presidential election. He has stated publicly that he’s unable to run as a presidential contender due to a politically motivated conditional sentence.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today