“Russia’s next presidential election campaign officially launched on the 18th.” According to the resolution passed by the Russian Federation Council, candidates from all parties and self-recommended candidates will begin the formal nomination process from the 18th of this month and submit their nominations to the central government. The Election Commission submits the necessary documents. Currently, 23 people have expressed their willingness to run for office, including current President Putin. Russian experts said that currently no candidate can compete with President Putin in the Russian general election. However, Russia is worried that the United States will interfere in the election, so it will refuse to invite American diplomats as election observers.
Russia reported on the 18th that the Russian Federation Council passed a resolution on holding a Russian presidential election on the 15th. The voting day is March 18, 2018. This date coincides with the 4th anniversary of Crimea’s return to Russia. . There are still three months before the official voting day before the campaign starts. During this period, candidates can carry out various campaign promotion activities. Pamfilova, chairwoman of the Russian Central Election Commission, announced that starting from the 18th, budget funds for organizing and implementing presidential elections will be allocated to the committee. The planned expenditure for preparing and implementing next year’s presidential campaign is 14.807 billion rubles (1 ruble is 0.1128 yuan). Currently, 23 people have expressed their intention to run, but this does not mean that all of them will successfully register with the Central Election Commission. This will depend on whether their campaign platform attracts the attention of voters and whether they can collect the signatures of 300,000 voters.
According to reports, Russian President Putin announced his participation in the 2018 presidential election on the 6th of this month. On the 14th, he stated at the annual large-scale press conference that he would participate in the election as a self-recommended candidate and said that he already had a campaign platform that would focus on infrastructure development, health care, education and increasing national income.
In addition to Putin, Zhirinovsky, leader of the Russian Liberal Democratic Party, and Yavlinsky, one of the founders of the Russian "Yaboglu" party, also expressed their candidacy. Russian Communist Party Chairman Zyuganov said that as chairman of the party, he has been elected to run for election and will make a final decision at the party congress to be held in the near future. The Russian Growth Party also decided to nominate its chairman Titov to run for office. Russian TV hostess Sobchak also announced her candidacy. In addition, Russian opposition blogger Navalny has repeatedly expressed his readiness to run for office and announced his campaign plan. However, the Central Election Commission stated that due to his criminal record, he is not eligible to run for president before 2028.
According to the latest poll released by the All-Russian Public Opinion Center, among the domestic politicians most trusted by Russian citizens, 53% expressed trust in Putin, and Zhirinovsky’s 11.2 %, Zyuganov’s 6.3%, Navalny’s 1.2%, and Sobchak’s only 0.2%. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov said in a live broadcast on the "Russia 24" TV station that although there are many people qualified to run, the Kremlin has not seen any competitors for President Putin in the upcoming presidential election. Kosygin, president of the Russian Civil Society Development Foundation, also said that no one can compete with President Putin in this presidential election. This will be a referendum for Russians to demonstrate their personal trust in President Putin, who has great influence in Russian society.
In the context of deteriorating relations between the United States and Russia, Russia is worried that the United States will interfere in the Russian presidential election. Russia's "Kommersant" reported on the 16th that on the 15th, at the meeting of the Russian Federation Council to approve the date for the presidential election, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov stated that Russia's elections are often subject to external interference, including interference from the United States. American diplomats even participated in rallies held by the Russian opposition. However, the results of Russia's elections will not be determined by some foreign partners under any circumstances, but by the Russian people.
Regarding the Russian Foreign Minister’s remarks, Maria Olson, head of the press office of the U.S. Embassy in Russia, later said that Moscow’s accusation of the United States interfering in Russia’s elections is completely wrong, which is detrimental to the restoration of relations between the two countries. Relationship efforts are detrimental. "This is a dangerous act that undermines the work of our two presidents to support the establishment of a more stable bilateral relationship." Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov also said at the meeting that Russia will not allow U.S. diplomacy during the Russian presidential election. personnel go to various polling places as observers, because during the U.S. election, the United States also refused to accept Russian diplomatic representatives as observers, but U.S. diplomats can join international observation organizations to monitor the Russian election.
Russian Congressman Zabarov said that the United States has been trying to divide Russian society and hopes to use sanctions to make Russian citizens change their support for President Putin. Americans just don't understand one thing: every time the outside world tries to put pressure on Russia, Russians will unite more closely around their country's leaders. President Putin has strong support from the people and will win an absolute victory in the election.