Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny cleared the first hurdle on Sunday towards taking part in next year’s presidential election as hundreds of supporters nominated him for president.
Navalny, 41, is a fierce opponent of President Vladimir Putin, who is widely expected to win re-election in March, extending his 17 years in power.
The central election commission has previously ruled Navalny ineligible to run for president due to a criminal conviction that is largely viewed as retribution.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking during his supporters’ meeting that nominated him for the presidential election race in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday
The 41-year-old anti-corruption crusader has run a yearlong grass-roots campaign and staged waves of rallies to push the Kremlin to let him run
The central election commission has previously ruled Navalny ineligible to run for president due to a criminal conviction that is largely viewed as retribution
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s supporters vote to nominate him for the presidential election race during a gathering in St. Petersburg
On Sunday Navalny, a veteran campaigner against corruption among Russia’s elite, won the initial support of 742 people at a gathering in a district of Moscow, above the minimum 500 required to initiate a presidential bid.
‘There is no large-scale support for Putin and his rule in this country,’ Navalny told the gathering, describing himself as a ‘real candidate’ for the election and threatening a boycott of the vote by his supporters if he is barred from running.
But Navalny now needs to be officially registered as a candidate by Russia’s central election commission, which has previously said he is ineligible due to a suspended prison sentence that he says was politically motivated.
He could enter the race if he gets special dispensation or the conviction is thrown out.
Navalny has been jailed three times this year on charges of repeatedly organising public meetings and rallies in violation of existing laws.
He has said that the Kremlin is deliberately trying to thwart his political ambitions.
Election authorities observed the endorsement process on Sunday.
Navalny, 41, is a fierce opponent of President Vladimir Putin, who is widely expected to win re-election in March, extending his 17 years in power. Pictured above, supporters vote to nominate Navalny in St Petersburg on Sunday
Navalny has been jailed three times this year on charges of repeatedly organising public meetings and rallies in violation of existing laws. Pictured above, Russian opposition activists gathered at a park in Moscow to support Navalny
Supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexie Navalny nominate his as opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential election during a meeting at the Marsovo field in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Sunday
Navalny now needs to be officially registered as a candidate by Russia’s central election commission, which has previously said he is ineligible due to a suspended prison sentence that he says was politically motivated. Pictured above, Russian opposition activist Ilya Yashin, center, greets people gathered at a park in Moscow
Russian opposition activists hold Russian national flags as they gather at a park in Moscow on Sunday
Navalny’s representatives filed the nomination papers with the Russian Election Commission on Sunday following the vote.
Outdoor endorsement gatherings also took place in 19 other cities, from Vladivostok to St Petersburg.
In Moscow, the process was delayed because the printer being used to generate the paperwork stopped working in the cold woods.
While Navalny’s staff tried to fix the machine, several hundred people gathered on a central Moscow square to demonstrate support for his nomination.
Russian law requires candidates to submit endorsements from just 500 people before they may start collecting the 1million signatures needed to appear on the ballot.
Putin’s representatives are expected to file his nomination papers on Tuesday.
Election officials were expected to accept Navalny’s paperwork on Sunday but it is highly unlikely they will allow him to proceed to the signature-gathering stage.
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in October that Navalny’s conviction for fraud in 2014 was ‘arbitrary’ and ordered Moscow to pay him compensation.
Outdoor endorsement gatherings also took place in 19 other cities, from Vladivostok to St Petersburg (pictured above)
Supporters of Navalny hold ballots as a symbol to nominate him as opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential election in Moscow
Russian law requires candidates to submit endorsements from just 500 people before they may start collecting the 1million signatures needed to appear on the ballot. Pictured above, Navalny supporters nominate his as opposition candidate for the upcoming presidential election during a meeting at the Marsovo field in St Petersburg
Election officials were expected to accept Navalny’s paperwork on Sunday but it is highly unlikely they will allow him to proceed to the signature-gathering stage. Pictured above, Navalny supporters vote during a meeting that their candidate for the presidential election race is nominated in Moscow
Navalny supporters to nominate him as a candidate for Russian presidency during a meeting of an action group in Moscow on Sunday
Polling agencies show Putin all but certain to win the March election. Polls show him with an 80 per cent approval rating among Russian citizens.
But Navalny has managed to galvanise some of the vast country’s sleepiest regions with a year-long grassroots campaign.
‘We have seen for ourselves this year that overwhelming support for authorities simply isn’t there,’ Navalny said during an American-style campaign speech at the nomination meeting, where he was flanked by his wife and children.
He reiterated he was confident he would win the presidential election if he were allowed to run.
He called on his supporters to boycott the vote, if election authorities refuse to register him.
On Saturday Russia’s ruling party United Russia pledged ‘all possible support’ to the 65-year-old Putin in his bid to win a further six years in power in the March election.
Also on Saturday the Russian Communist Party named its presidential candidate, Pavel Grudinin, 57.
gives his papers to a CEC official during a prosedure of submitting documents to be registered as a presidential candidate at the Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) in Moscow on Sunday
Navalny has managed to galvanise some of the vast country’s sleepiest regions with a year-long grassroots campaign
Navalny told his supporters on Sunday that he was confident he would win the presidential election if he were allowed to run
Navalny called on his supporters to boycott the vote, if election authorities refuse to register him
The party came second after United Russia in the 2016 parliamentary elections.
On Sunday Russian property developer Sergei Polonsky, who has been convicted of defrauding investors, also secured enough initial backing to seek clearance from the election commission to take part in the presidential race.
Others planning to run include television personality Ksenia Sobchak, whose late father was Putin’s boss in the early 1990s, journalist Ekaterina Gordon.
A lawyer by training, Navalny came to public prominence in 2009, when he began publishing investigations of corruption at Russia’s biggest state-controlled companies.
He spearheaded massive anti-government protests in 2011-2012 in reaction to widespread fraud during the parliamentary election.
Navalny came under pressure from authorities as he gained popularity. He faced countless detentions for staging protests and spent months under house arrest while being investigated for fraud.
He was convicted on two sets of unrelated fraud charges. His brother was sent to prison in what was seen as political revenge.
In his only formal election campaign, he got nearly 30 per cent of the vote when he ran for Moscow mayor in 2013.