Navalni’s post-mortem political context
After the death of Navalny last February 16 and his burial on March 1, the focus in Russia is on the presidential elections that will be held next March 17, despite the fact that in some remote areas of the country and in occupied Ukrainian territories, early voting has already begun.
The candidates and favoritism towards Putin
There are four candidates running for the elections, although no one doubts that the next president of the country will be Vladimir Putin. Borís Nadejdin, the candidate who could shadow him and claimed to have obtained more than 200,000 signatures of support, will finally not be able to present himself. In an interview with premium.cat, the same politician explained that the elections would not be fair, but that he believed there would be changes and that Putin would not succeed in exhausting the legislature.
Kremlin propaganda and criticism of Russian democracy
Nevertheless, the gear and tentacles of Kremlin propaganda are inexhaustible. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia has the “best democracy” and lashed out at those who criticize Moscow for its handling of domestic political affairs. “We will no longer tolerate criticism of our democracy and claims that it is not the type it should be,” Peskov said during a talk at the World Youth Festival in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia. “Our democracy is the best and we will continue to build it.”
The presidential election and worries about a nuclear war
Peskov’s comments come a week before Russia’s presidential election, where President Putin is almost certain to win re-election as competition at the polls is minimal. During this talk, Peskov also addressed the concerns of a possible nuclear war between Russia and the West, saying that “a nuclear war is the last resort.” However, he also wanted to make it clear that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons “if something threatens its existence”.
The supremacy of Putin and his statements
These are not the only comments where the Kremlin takes a piss out of Russian democracy or its leader. Peskov himself told The New York Times last August that “our presidential elections are not really a democracy, they are an expensive bureaucracy. Mr. Putin will be re-elected next year with more than 90% of the votes”. Later, however, he clarified these words by assuring that it was a personal opinion. In an interview with RBK, Peskov said that Russia does not need to hold presidential elections because “it is obvious that Putin will be re-elected.”
The political future of Russia
In this context, you only have to wait for March 17 to see with what percentage the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, ends up winning over the rest of the candidates.
