2024-03-16 21:08:07
International
Entered2024.03.17 06:08 Modified2024.03.17 06:08
Navalny supporters announce noon protest The Russian presidential election, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin is running for a fifth term, concludes on the 17th (local time). This presidential election, which started at 8 a.m. on the 15th, will end at 8 p.m. on the same day (2 a.m. on the 18th, Korean time).
Russia, a vast territory with 11 time zones, closes voting sequentially from the Chukotka Autonomous Oblast and Kamchatka Oblast in the Far East to Kaliningrad, the westernmost extraterritorial territory.
Since there is a one-hour time difference between Moscow and Kaliningrad, the Russian presidential election officially ends at 9 PM Moscow time (3 AM on the 18th, Korean time). The counting of votes will begin as soon as the polls close, and the results of the exit poll by the public opinion poll are expected to be announced.
However, his election has become a fait accompli, to the point where it is awkward to say that President Putin is ‘running for’ a fifth term.
Of the four candidates, excluding President Putin, three others – Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party of Russia, Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party, and Leonid Slutsky of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) – have weak approval ratings. If a fifth term is confirmed, President Putin will rule Russia for six more years until 2030.
Since taking over as acting president following the resignation of former President Boris Yeltsin on December 31, 1999, he has been in power for 30 years, surpassing the record of 29 years in power held by former Soviet Communist Party Secretary Joseph Stalin.
President Putin can run until the presidential election held in 2030, so he can extend his term of power until 2036, when he turns 84. Living up to his nickname of ‘modern-day tsar (emperor)’, he will virtually rule for life. The key to this presidential election is not whether President Putin is elected, but the vote percentage.
There are also predictions that it might break the highest vote rate (76.7%) set in 2018 and achieve a vote rate in the 80% range for the first time in history.
Attention is also focused on voter turnout.
The voter turnout in the 2018 presidential election was 67.5%, and it was calculated that 50% of Russian voters participated in the vote at 4:11 PM Moscow time on the 16th, the second day of the election.
Although President Putin receives a lot of support, there are also voices opposing the current administration.
At polling places around the world, people were detained for pouring green liquid into ballot boxes, damaging marked ballots or attempting to set fire to ballots.
A ‘vote protest’ is scheduled for noon on this day.
Close associates of anti-government activist Alexei Navalny, who died in prison last month, are urging people to participate in a protest dubbed ‘Noon Against Putin’.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, appealed through social media (SNS) to come to the polls at noon that day and show their opposition to the Putin government.
They also suggested invalidating votes by voting for a candidate other than President Putin or writing “Navalny” on the ballot paper. Russian authorities have warned that organizing or participating in “uncoordinated large-scale events” might result in up to five years in prison.
/yunhap news
1710624419
#Today #day #Russian #presidential #election.. #Tsar #Putin #opens #lifelong #power
