Russia bars pro-peace candidate to run in presidential election

Russia’s Central Election Commission has refused to accept former legislator Yekaterina Duntsova’s initial nomination to the 2024 presidential election by a group of supporters.

Duntsova is calling for peace in Ukraine and hopes to challenge President Vladimir Putin, promoting her vision of a “humane” Russia “that’s peaceful, friendly and ready to cooperate with everyone on the principle of respect”, according to France 24.

“On Dec. 23, the Central Election Commission refused to register my initiative group,” Duntsova wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

According to a Telegram channel close to Duntsova’s campaign, the commission found 100 errors in her nomination papers, including mistakes in the spelling of names.

“You are a young woman, you still have everything ahead of you. Any minus can always be turned into a plus,” the head of Russia’s Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, said at the commission meeting, addressing Duntsova.

Duntsova said that she would appeal the decision in Russia’s Supreme Court, and appealed to the leaders of the Yabloko (Apple) political party to nominate her as a candidate, as she said she would be unable to convene a second meeting of supporters.

In addition, on December 23, Russian state media said that Yabloko party founder and leader Grigory Yavlinsky would not run for the presidency, citing the party’s press service. Speaking in a live interview on YouTube, once Duntsova’s appeal to Yabloko became known, Yavlinsky said that he “didn’t know” whether the party would consider her application.

Duntsova took her first steps toward candidate status on December 17, when her run was endorsed by 500 supporters as required by Russian election law, and presented documents to Russia’s Central Election Commission on December 20 to register her nomination.