Putin foe Navalny pushes election bid
Endorsement meeting first step for long shot
MOSCOW — Hundreds of supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny nominated him for president Sunday, allowing Navalny to file the endorsement papers required for his candidacy and putting pressure on the Kremlin to allow him to run.
Navalny, the most formidable foe President Vladimir Putin has faced during 18 years in power, is prohibited from seeking political office because of a criminal conviction that is viewed as retribution. But he could enter the race if he gets special dispensation or the conviction is thrown out.
About 800 Navalny supporters assembled in a tent for the formal endorsement meeting held in Moscow’s snow-covered Silver Forest. His allies said multiple meeting venues refused to host the gathering.
Ivan Zhdanov, who chaired the meeting, joked that the riverside event ended up being convened at a place where the address is “Silver Forest, Beach Number 3.”
“Has everyone got their swimming trunks?” Zhdanov asked the participants.
Election authorities observed the endorsement process. Navalny and his legal advisers submitted the nomination papers with the Russian Election Commission on Sunday evening.
Outdoor endorsement gatherings also took place in 19 other cities, from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg.
Biologist Svetlana Sorokina, 41, said it was important to show the Kremlin “there are many people like us.”
Nearby, police officers warned the crowd through loudspeakers they were breaking the law and threatened to disperse the rally. Sorokina said she was “a little bit scared.”
Russian law requires candidates to submit endorsements from just 500 people before they may start collecting the 1 million signatures needed to appear on the ballot. Putin’s representatives are expected to file his nomination papers on Tuesday.
Election officials were expected to accept Navalny’s paperwork, but it’s highly unlikely they will allow him to proceed to the signature-gathering stage.
Polling agencies show Putin all but certain to win the March election.