Alexei Navalny Calls for Protests in Support of Boycott of Russian Elections

Alexei Navalny, the opposition politician barred from participating in the presidential elections, has called for widespread protests across Russia on January 28, 2024, to support a boycott of the elections. In a message published on his personal website on Wednesday, he stated: "It is clear that Putin and the Kremlin need a large turnout in the March 18 elections, and it seems everything is ready to hand over another six years to the current president." Navalny also accused other presidential candidates of acting in Putin's interests. Besides Vladimir Putin, Gennady Zyuganov from the Communist Party, the far-right nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, and liberal leader Grigory Yavlinsky are also candidates in the Russian presidential elections. Navalny called for a "vote strike" in Russia and urged people to boycott the elections and use all their efforts to convince others not to participate. The Kremlin opposition politician wrote in his message: "We are not willing to call another appointment of Putin an election." He added: "On January 28, we will hold protests across the country to show our support for the vote strike." The message continued: "We do not want to wait another six years. We want a competitive election now." Navalny's message was released on the same day that Vladimir Putin submitted a letter of request to participate in the elections with the necessary signatures to the Russian electoral commission. A few days earlier, after Navalny registered to participate in the presidential elections, the electoral commission rejected his application, stating that he was barred from participating due to a criminal record. The Central Election Commission of Russia stated that Navalny had been convicted in court and received a suspended sentence, thus he cannot participate in the elections. Of the 13 members of the Central Election Commission, 12 voted to reject Navalny's application, while one member abstained. The Russian electoral commission had previously announced that Navalny would be barred from participating in elections until 2028 due to a conviction related to financial crimes. Navalny has repeatedly claimed that these charges are fabricated and that the case was created for political purposes against him.