Moscow: As Russia gears up for its upcoming 2024 presidential elections, the country’s second-largest party has decided to nominate 75-year-old Nikolai Kharitonov to run against Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Saturday, the members of the Communist Party of Russia held a meeting in Moscow in which they backed Kharitonov’s candidacy for the upcoming elections, The Moscow Times reported. It is important to note that this is not the first time the veteran Russian leader stood against Putin in a race to the Kremlin. 

Kharitonov ran against Putin in 2004 and managed to garner only 13.7 per cent votes, with Putin recording a landslide victory with 71.3% votes. “Kharitonov’s candidacy was supported by an overwhelming majority of congress participants in a secret ballot,” fellow Communist party leader Alexander Yushchenko told Interfax. However, the ballot only had Kharitonov’s name leaving party members with no options, The Moscow Times reported. The decision was taken hours after the Central Election Commission barred independent candidate Yekaterina Duntsova from contesting the election against the Russian President. 

Moscow blocks Duntsova’s candidacy 

Former Russian TV journalist and independent presidential candidate Yekaterina Duntsova was barred from contesting elections against Russian President Vladimir Putin. During a meeting on Saturday, the Central Election Commission (CEC) rejected the papers filed by the anti-war journalist stating that it was filled with over 100 typos and other errors, The Moscow Times reported. The 40-year-old Russian politician announced her bid for the office of the President in November. Earlier this week, Duntsova managed to secure the endorsement of an initiative group of more than 500 supporters and filed her papers. 

“We have carefully studied the documents, and we have the impression that they were filled out in haste without complying with legal standards,” the CEC member Yevgeny Shevchenko said during the meeting, The Moscow Times reported. After the members rejected her candidature, The head of the commission, Ella Pamfilova, reportedly showed sympathy to Duntsova. “You are a young woman, you have everything ahead of you. Any minus can always be turned into a plus. Any experience is still an experience,” Pamfilova said during the meeting. The rejection came three days after the anti-war activist presented her document to the electoral watchdog.