- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.de
- cross-posted to:
- europe@feddit.de
Boris Nadezhdin has become a dilemma for the Kremlin as he seeks to run in the March 17 presidential election. The question now is whether Russian authorities will allow him on the ballot.
The stocky, bespectacled 60-year-old local legislator and academic has struck a chord with the public, openly calling for a halt to the conflict in Ukraine, the end of mobilizing Russian men for the military, and starting a dialogue with the West. He also has criticized the country’s repression of LGBTQ+ activism.
“The collection of signatures has gone unexpectedly well for us,” Nadezhdin told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday in Moscow. “We didn’t expect this, to be honest.”
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Too bad he‘ll fall out of a window anytime soon
Nah man, this guy will only get like 32% of the vote and Putin will get 119%.
Having accidentally shot himself twice in the back of the head.
“He was shot twice in the back of the head with a double barrel shotgun - worst case of suicide the sheriff had ever see “ -can’t remember where I heard this.
Gary Webb?? (journalist that wrote about Iran-Contra)
I’m thinking something something racism in Texas in the 80s/90s, but I found this too: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30669104/
He fell on those bullets
Right after a “dose” of tea.
Well with Navalny as precedent, it seems like they’ll throw him in a gulag rather than kill him
He didn’t learn from Navalny’s example. Clearly there has to be a stronger message to anyone who might come after this guy.
Anyone want to take bets on how long it’ll take for this guy to end up falling out of a building or get into a plane crash?
Never. Zero need to.
How long before he’s offered some extra spicy tea?
Eventually making a martyr out of your political opponents backfires.
It’s probably why Navalny is still alive.
You kill your sycophants that pose threats, but you arrest and routinely provide proof of life of your political opponents.
Yea, worst case he’ll probably get the cell next to Navalny
Or a walk by an open window?
I’m sure the list of voters would be valuable to the current government. Its a list of those who oppose the status quo
Isn’t voting in Russia anonymous?
I was referring to the collection of signatures.
They’ll put him on trial for some bogus charges and throw him in jail. Just standard procedure.
Or just show him the view from an upper floor’s window.
New law, all windows above the third floor must remain open for fire safety until the election.
The cynic in me tells me this guy is used to gauge how widespread those ideas are within Russia, providing interesting intelligence to Putin.
The question now is whether Russian authorities will allow him on the ballot.
The elections are rigged anyway.
But they need seemingly legitimate opposition that doesn’t really threaten them.
It doesn’t matter if the election is rigged or not. It is all about appearances. Even though everyone with a half a brain knows what’s going on.
I was explaining why it’s not a dilemma for the Russian government. You wrote “But…” and then made no counter argument, so I don’t see what you’re trying to say.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The stocky, bespectacled 60-year-old local legislator and academic has struck a chord with the public, openly calling for a halt to the conflict in Ukraine, the end of mobilizing Russian men for the military, and starting a dialogue with the West.
Nadezhdin’s name is a form of the Russian word for “hope,” and although he is highly unlikely to defeat the still-popular Putin, the lines are a rare sign of protest, defiance and optimism in a country that has seen a harsh crackdown on dissent since its troops rolled into Ukraine nearly two years ago.
Waiting to sign a petition in St. Petersburg, Alexander Rakityansky told AP he went through a “period of apathy when I thought I couldn’t do anything.” Now, however, he sees Nadezhdin’s campaign as a chance to exercise his civil rights.
Originally from Belgorod, the Russian border city hit by repeated Ukrainian attacks, Rakityansky said he backed Nadezhdin so his hometown “doesn’t get bombed and people don’t die on the streets.”
For Putin to win a convincing victory, he needs his supporters to turn out and his critics must stay home with no “glimmer of hope,” said Ekaterina Schulmann, a political scientist and nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.
He has appeared as a pundit on Russian television and even criticized the conflict in Ukraine during a talk show on state-controlled NTV in September 2022 — a rare level of visibility not enjoyed by other opposition politicians such as Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza, both now imprisoned.
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