Putin rival banned

Russian officials rule out anti-corruption crusader from election

Russian election officials yesterday barred Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny (right) from running for president, prompting calls from him for a boycott of next year’s vote. The Central Election Commission decided unanimously that the anti-corruption crusader wasn’t eligible to run.

RUSSIAN election officials yesterday barred Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny from running for president, prompting calls from him for a boycott of next year’s vote.

The Central Election Commission decided unanimously that the anti-corruption crusader wasn’t eligible to run.

Mr Navalny is implicitly barred from running for office because of a conviction in a fraud case that has been viewed as political retribution. He could have run had he been given a special dispensation or had his conviction cancelled.

Incumbent Vladimir Putin is set to easily win a fourth term in the March 18 election, with his approval ratings topping 80 per cent. Over the past year, Mr Navalny has mounted a grassroots campaign that reached out to the most remote corners of Mr Putin’s heartland.

Mr Navalny, 41, is the most serious challenger that Mr Putin has faced in all his years in power, and the court cases against him have been widely seen as a tool to keep him from running for office.

In a prerecorded video message that was released minutes after the Election Commission handed down the decision, Mr Navalny called on his supporters to boycott the vote.

“The procedure that we’re invited to take part is not an election,” he said. “Only Putin and the candidates he has hand-picked are taking part.”

Central Election Commission chief Ella Pamfilova told Mr Navalny ahead of its vote to bar him that “maybe we would be interested if you were running,” but said Mr Navalny’s conviction didn’t allow the commission to put him on the ballot.

Speaking before the vote, Mr Navalny told the commission that their decision to bar him would be a vote “not against me, but against 16,000 people who have nominated me, against 200,000 volunteers who have been canvassing for me”.

While Mr Putin is all but certain to win an easy victory, the Kremlin has been concerned by growing voter apathy surrounding the poll.