Challenger hopes for end of Putin era
Boris Nadezhdin, 60, gets his name on the ballot with 100,000 signatures from supporters.
Daily TribuneBoris Nadezhdin, 60, gets his name on the ballot with 100,000 signatures from supporters.
BORIS Nadezhdin, the Civic Initiative Party presidential hopeful, holds a press conference in Saint Petersburg.
OLGA MALTSEVA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
In his flat outside Moscow, Boris Nadezhdin can’t quite believe he’s made it this far in his attempt to run for president against Vladimir Putin.
He’s surprised himself and much of Russia as his backers form long queues all over the country to provide the signatures needed to put him on the official ballot in the March presidential election.
The veteran local lawmaker — thrust to nationwide fame in just over two weeks — is unlikely to reach the Kremlin or stop Putin from prolonging his 24-year rule.
“But I hope that March 17, while it may not be the end of the Putin era, will at least mark the beginning of the end,” he told Agence France-Presse, referring to the date of the ballot.
The 60-year-old is campaigning with a risky message: end the Ukraine offensive.
Nadezhdin — whose name has the Russian word for “hope” in it — said he would end the “catastrophic” offensive and “free political prisoners.”
He said he wants Russia to be a country “that does not try to expand its territory with the help of the army.”
It’s an almost unthinkable public campaign in Russia, where dozens have been thrown in prison for making similar statements against the near two-year conflict.
While skeptical he will be allowed to run, Nadezhdin thinks his criticism is tolerated as he is a former insider of Russia’s political system.
“I have spent the last 10 years criticizing Putin,” he said.
He met AFP as he returned from swimming in the Moscow region town of Dolgoprudny, where he has been a lawmaker since the fall of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Nadezhdin had waited for someone with a bigger name to announce their candidacy to oppose Putin.
“No one else went forward,” so he decided to go for it, he said.
His team says he has collected more than the required 100,000 signatures for him to be able to officially run.
“I did not expect such a crazy wave of support at this stage,” he admitted.
The queues shattered the Kremlin’s claims that Russian society is fully behind the Ukraine offensive and provided a rare window for critical Russians to safely express their views in public.
Nadezhdin says “there was no demand” in Russia for Putin to launch the offensive in February 2022.
“People understand that their lives and the safety of their families is threatened by what Putin is doing,” he said.
He paints the two-year military operation as pointless.
“I don’t believe that any side could have a real decisive military victory. It’s completely unrealistic.”
At the moment, Nadezhdin’s only communication with supporters is through social media.
If he were to be allowed on TV as an official candidate, he said: “I assure you my support would grow.”
