Before Russia’s presidential election, the team of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died in a prison camp, provided information about protesting against incumbent Vladimir Putin on voting day. Opponents of Putin should show up at polling stations at noon on Sunday (March 17), the main day of the three-day elections, to publicly demonstrate their rejection of the Kremlin leader, opposition figure Leonid Volkov said on Thursday. Russia has eleven time zones and therefore such rallies are expected all day long.
Volkov, who was beaten and seriously injured in a hammer attack while in exile in Lithuania on Tuesday, appeared in a video clip with his arm in a splint after a fracture and his leg in a bandage. The politician, one of Navalny’s closest associates who died on February 16, said at least two names, but ideally all four candidates, should be checked on the ballot papers. This would render the ballot paper invalid.
After Navalny’s death, many people felt anger, anger and powerlessness. Kremlin opponents said they wanted to hurt Putin after the Kremlin chief tried to kill hopes by killing Navalny. It is not possible to bring about a change of power in Russia through elections because the results are manipulated, Volkov said. But much can be done to put pressure on the apparatus of power.
Based on an idea from Navalny, Kremlin opponents also developed a kind of random generator called Foton for mobile phones, which suggests a candidate name to undecided voters. This is intended to prevent disputes between eligible voters who don’t know who to vote for, Volkow explained. Besides Putin, there are three other politicians running as Duma deputies, who are fully aligned with the Kremlin and some of whom also directly support the incumbent president. Like Putin, they are all “villains,” Volkov said.
The vote, which has been criticized as a farce and is aimed at helping Putin stay in power, starts this Friday. Moscow estimates the number of eligible voters in Russia at 112 million – but this actually includes 4.5 million people in the occupied parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. The sham votes in the occupied territories are contrary to international law and are therefore not internationally recognized. In addition, two million Russians living in other countries are eligible to vote. (sda/dpa/lyn)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
