Opposition Candidate Kasyanov Barred From Russian Presidential Election

By Brent Surgeoner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Mikhail Kasyanov, opposition candidate and loud critic of President Vladimir Putin, was barred from the presidential election on Sunday after Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) ruled that an excessive amount of signatures on his nomination petition were forged.

Kasyanov, who once served as Putin’s prime minister, denied all allegations of forgery.  Outraged at the CEC’s ruling, he was quoted as saying “the country has finally gone on the slippery slope to totalitarianism.”

In Russia, any candidate who is not nominated by a political party which has representatives in the State Duma is required to submit a nomination petition with 2 million signatures.  If more than 5% of the signatures are forged, the candidate will be barred from the election.

According to the CEC, more than 80,000 of Kasyanov’s signatures, or greater than 13%, were deemed forged.

As a result, not only has Kasyanov been barred from the election, but the Prosecutor General’s office is launching a forgery investigation against him.  A conviction for forgery could carry a 5-year prison sentence.

Kasyanov could appeal the CEC’s finding, although many question what chance he even had in the election as he was only polling around 1%.

The favored candidate is Putin-backed Dmitry Medvedev who has asked Putin to be prime minister if victorious in March.

The three other candidates include Gennady Zyuganov of the Communist Party, ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Andrei Bogdanov of the obscure Democratic Party.

Zyuganov has already considered backing out of the election over frustration with the state-run media, which he says provides unequal election coverage.  Zyuganov has also raised suspicions as to how candidate Bogdanov raised 2 million signatures considering he only polls at 0.2%.

According to the Washington Post, Bogdanov is quietly receiving support from the Kremlin, in an attempt to make the race look competitive while at the same time limiting harsh criticism against Medvedev.

Many have argued that Kasyanov was targeted by the Kremlin because his loud criticism against Putin created an atmosphere of unpredictability about the campaign. 

“No one would know in advance what he might want to say in a live TV broadcast,” argued political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin.
Kasyanov was also the only liberal in the election campaign after Gary Kasparov was allegedly forced out by the Kremlin.

The election is set for March 2.

For more information, please see:

Yahoo (AP) - Kremlin critic barred from election - 27 January 2008

BBC - Kasyanov barred from Russian poll - 27 January 2008

CNN International - Kremlin critic barred from election - 27 January 2008

Washington Post - Putin Rival Barred From Presidential Election - 27 January 2008