Putin ensures no competition after anti-war rival blocked from Russian elections

Russian president Vladimir Putin is seeking reelection in the forthcoming ballots (Picture: AP)

Vladimir Putin toppled his challenger Boris Nadezhdin even before the start of next month’s presidential vote in Russia.

Election authorities barred the Uzbekistan-born politician from running against the Russian leader after alleging that more than 15 per cent of the signatures he gathered are flawed.

It is a strong signal from the Kremlin that it won’t tolerate any public opposition to the invasion of Ukraine.

Nadezhdin, whose surname is derived from the Russian word for ‘hope’, was the only candidate calling for peace in Ukraine, calling the war ‘a fatal mistake’, not a ‘special military operation’ like the government dictates the nation to do.

Shortly after the commission’s decision, he said: ‘The Central Election Commission refused to register me for the presidential elections. I ask you not to give up.

‘Something happened that many could not believe: citizens sensed the possibility of change in Russia.

‘It was you who stood in long lines to declare to the whole world: “Russia will be a great and free country”.’

Thousands of people lined up across Russia last month to support his candidacy, an unusual show of opposition sympathies.

Nobody expected Nadezhdin to actually win the election, but his ousting shows a nervousness in the Kremlin.

The 60-year-old gave a sense of optimism to those opposing the war, and many of them stood in bitterly cold temperatures to sign petitions.

Starting peace talks with Ukraine was among his campaign promises, as was the idea that Russia is not ‘a besieged fortress’ and needs to pivot toward working with the West rather than being in a confrontation with it.

Boris Nadezhdin, the Civic Initiative Party presidential hopeful (Picture: AFP)

Speaking to officials at the election commission on Thursday, Nadezhdin asked them to postpone their decision, but they declined.

He said he would appeal his disqualification in court.

Most of the opposition figures who might have challenged Putin have been either imprisoned or exiled abroad.

That includes opposition leader Alexei Navalny, whose attempt to run against him in 2018 also was rejected, and he is now serving a 19-year sentence on extremism charges.

Exiled opposition activists, including those on Navalny’s team, had thrown their weight behind Nadezhdin, urging their supporters to back his nomination.

Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said the Kremlin does not view him as a ‘rival’.

Nadezhdin is the second anti-war hopeful to be denied a spot on the ballot.

In December, the election commission also refused to certify the candidacy of Yekaterina Duntsova, citing problems such as spelling errors in her paperwork.

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