Russian elections: Can Boris Nadezhdin beat Vladimir Putin?

By Jennifer Pahlke

MOSCOW: Boris Nadezhdin successfully cleared the first hurdle to running for president when he received permission to collect signatures for his candidacy. He’ll need this proof of support to run against incumbent Russian President Vladimir Putin in the presidential election this March. Nadezhdin said he had already gathered 200,000 signatures, twice as many as required by Russia’s Central Election Commission. As a candidate for the center-right Civic Initiative Party, Nadezhdin only had to gather over 100,000 signatures to seek approval for the presidential ticket. Running as an independent candidate, Putin had to collect at least 300,000 signatures to make it on the ballot.

Only after the Central Election Commission has reviewed the candidate’s submissions will he be permitted to formally register for the presidential election. In the past, some candidates have been rejected due to alleged formal errors. But Nadezhdin’s electoral assistants said they felt well prepared. “We are collecting signatures from 200 cities, 65 regions across Russia, and from eligible Russian voters in 30 other countries, including Germany,” Nadezhdin told DW in an interview.

Should the Central Election Commission reject his bid, he told supporters he is prepared to call for mass protests in 150 cities across the country. To the Kremlin, Nadezhdin, 60, is a familiar face. His political career began in the 1990s, when he served as an adviser to the deputy prime minister at the time, Boris Nemtsov, and as an assistant to then-Prime Minister Sergey Kiriyenko, who is currently Putin’s first deputy chief of staff.

Nadezhdin is currently the only anti-war candidate registered for the election. “Putin made a fatal error when he launched the ‘special military operation.’ None of the declared goals have been met. And it is unlikely that they will be met without causing major damage to the economy and dealing an irreparable blow to Russia’s demography,” Nadezhdin stated on his website, referring to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Nadezhdin’s vision for Russia includes putting an end to the war in Ukraine. Those backing him appear to share that vision.

Long lines have sometimes formed in front of Nadezhdin’s election office as thousands of people, mostly younger individuals, deal with freezing temperatures for hours just to give him their signature in support of his campaign. “Most of my supporters are quite young, between 20 and 30 years old. But I also have older supporters,” Nadezhdin told DW. “The oldest person to give me their signature was a woman born in Oryol in 1936.”

He added that it was particularly important to younger generations to stand up for their beliefs, to protest — and to avoid being drafted into Russia’s war in Ukraine. This is Nadezhdin’s potential electoral base. Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin said he could imagine Nadezhdin would be able to mobilize young voters. “Twenty to 25% of the population don’t support Putin,” he told DW. “The problem is, they don’t vote.”

He added that these voters had little sympathy for the current president and the prevailing political system and even harboured contempt for the electoral system that has given rise to Putin’s victories in the polls. “Barring any disruptions — and there is no doubt that there will be disruptions — he could gather 10%-15% percent of the vote,” Oreshkin said.