“We must put an end to what cannot be named,” says Svetlana, a retiree who, clinging to her husband's arm, joins a long queue in the center of Moscow to give her information and support to Boris Nadezhdin, the the only candidate to challenge Vladimir Putin in the March elections in Russia who is committed to peace with Ukraine.
In recent weeks Nadezhdin has become a phenomenon among discontented Russians, both for those who have been in opposition to the Kremlin all their lives and for those who have never thought about politics, but want the conflict to end now. Thousands of people in the Russian capital and other cities are queuing to leave their signatures so that he can be admitted as a candidate for the elections next March. But to register as a candidate you need to present 100,000 signatures to the Central Electoral Commission before January 31.
He is the “only hope” of anti-war Russia, maintains another couple, Alexander and Natasha, two young people who work in the education sector, in Furman Alley, not far from the popular Chistie Prudí pond. And given the impossibility of demonstrating against the war, which could lead to fines and prison sentences, the campaign to collect signatures has become for many “the only non-dangerous way to do something.” Nadezhdin is a symbol for us,” says Alexander. Interestingly, the aspirant's last name comes from the Russian given name Nadezhda, which means "hope."
According to Russian law, independent candidates have to collect 300,000 signatures. This is the case of Putin himself, who, despite having the support of his party, United Russia, and his ally Just Russia, has been betting for years on this strategy to disassociate himself from the political dispute and the decline in popularity of his own. training. His team has collected more than three million signatures, ten times more than necessary, and this week he has already delivered them.
If an independent is endorsed by a political party, such as Nadezhdin, who is supported by the Civic Initiative formation, 100,000 signatures are required.
They do not need endorsements, on the contrary, those who run for parties with deputies in Parliament. This is the case of the ultranationalist Leonid Slutski, of the Liberal-Democratic Party; of Vladislav Davankov, from Gente Nueva, and Nikolai Kharitonov, for the Communist Party, at the moment the only candidates who already have the approval of the electoral body.
“I came to support Nadezhdin, actually dragged by my son,” says Olga before introducing Artiom, who was saving her place in line enduring the winter blizzard that is falling on the Russian capital these days. “It is a way of speaking out against everyone, since in reality the other candidates support the current power. “It is a symbol of protest,” he intervenes. “Besides, it's the only thing we can do. “I support Nadezhdin because he has promised to put an end to corruption and the OME,” he explains, referring to the “special military operation,” the official euphemism for the military intervention of the Russian army in Ukraine that Putin ordered almost two years ago. years.
As the retiree Svetlana said, in Russia saying words like “war”, “invasion” or “aggression” can be interpreted as discrediting the army and leading to a fine or jail.
Boris Nadezhdin, 60, is a veteran but little-known politician. A councilor in Dolgoprudny, a city of 120,000 inhabitants 20 kilometers north of Moscow, at the beginning of the century he was a state deputy for a liberal party. In his election manifesto, he maintains that he presents himself as “a principled opponent of the policies of the current president.” He openly calls for an end to the war against Ukraine, and if he is elected he promises an end to the mobilization and the return home of the prisoners of war.
In addition to ending the war, many of those who arrive at the candidate's offices hope that his candidacy will mark the end of the Putin era, says Lev, a telecommunications engineer in his early 20s who approaches the line distracted in the depths of your headphones. It is an “alternative to vertical power”, represented by Putin and built since Boris Yeltsin handed over the presidency to him on the last day of 1999.
Nadezhdin's team has already obtained 100,000 signatures this week, according to the count that appears each day on its website. But he decided to continue until 150,000 to have a cushion in case of errors and because, according to the law, there must be at least 2,500 from each region. This Saturday it had far exceeded that goal, with more than 197,000.
“I have come to support Nadezhdin because my heart told me so,” says Svetlana, a teacher, to questions from La Vanguardia after leaving the candidate's offices. “It's an opportunity. Time will tell if something can be changed in our country later, but we have to take advantage of it.”
After turning off the music and kindly apologizing, Lev, for his part, confesses that this was not his first option for the elections on March 15, 16 and 17. “I wanted to support Duntsova, but they didn't allow her to run,” he explains.
Journalist Yekaterina Duntsova became a fresh face for these elections in the fall. She presented herself as hopeful about making Russia “a prosperous democracy and a peaceful state.” But in December the Electoral Commission refused to register her, citing defects in her documents. She couldn't even begin to collect signatures. “Also, I think the more candidates there are, the better it will be. I hope they allow him to present himself,” adds Lev.
Duntsova has asked her followers to give their support to Nadezhdin. She has also been supported by prominent figures of the outlawed opposition, such as anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalni, imprisoned for 30 years in an Arctic prison for various convictions; and the exiled former oil magnate Mijaíl Khodorkovsky, among others. That partly explains the massive influx of support in recent weeks.
But having the support of the leaders of the opposition not accepted by power can cause a problem for Nadezhdin and compromise his candidacy. The politician has denied that he is endorsed by the opposition and has also denied being a product of the Kremlin, as he has been accused from the other side of the barrier.
