Nadezhdin mockingly thanked “New People” for their support
A micro-sensation occurred yesterday on the liberal flank of the presidential elections in Russia. The candidate from the New People party, Vladislav Davankov, while in Yaroslavl, signed for the nomination of the candidate of the Civil Initiative party, Boris Nadezhdin.
According to him, he did this to “support competition in the elections,” a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“I do not agree with Nadezhdin on all issues, but I hope to discuss everything with him at the pre-election debates. I believe that there should be political competition in the Russian Federation. I myself know how difficult it is to collect signatures. This is my small contribution. This week I will leave signatures for other candidates,” Davankov told reporters.
He also said that he had known Nadezhdin for a long time. However, he thanked his young colleague for his support in an insulting manner, saying that now they would have to get to know each other.
“I personally know all the candidates. I remember them when they were “small”. I have known Putin since the 90s. I know Davankov least of all, because he is of a different generation. But, apparently, I’ll have to get to know him better,” Nadezhdin said on a stream with political scientist-foreign agent Ekaterina Shulman.
He also said that he does not consider Davankov his competitor in the elections, since he intends to fight only with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It seems that Nadezhdin’s dismissive thanks did not greatly offend the candidate from “New People”. The signature stunt is a PR stunt for his campaign. Political scientist Ilya Grashchenkov, who supports Davankov, openly admits that in this way it is possible to get votes from voters for an “alternative candidate” when he is removed from the elections.
“We don’t yet know how Nadezhdin’s adventure will end. He will collect signatures, but whether he will be able to submit them is a big question. I think that neither he himself nor even those who will accept these signatures will answer this question now. In such a situation of uncertainty, it is extremely important to outline possible strategies for further work,” Grashchenkov wrote in his tg channel.
But his colleague, foreign agent Stanislav Belkovsky, was horrified by Davankov’s act.
“Not this, boss! If an anti-war candidate supports a pro-war candidate, he will make his entire campaign meaningless and set up those who signed up for him,” wrote the fugitive liberal.
The head of the “Club of Regions” of uncertain political orientation, Sergei Starovoitov, believes that out of despair, Nadezhdin’s “non-twins” will agree to vote for a pro-Kremlin liberal when their candidate is not allowed to participate in the elections.
“These voters are few in number, however, they represent rather symbolic liberal capital. Especially after a loud signature campaign with queues of supporters. Among other things, this move will allow Nadezhdin to directly support Davankov, at least as a return favor,” Starovoitov wrote.
Political expert Sergei Markov believes that by his action Davankov set up Nadezhdin in front of his supporters, who are now diligently lining up in the cold to take pictures and demonstrate to the Western media at least some kind of protest in Russia.
“A bright step. And the fact that this was done immediately after Khodorkovsky, FBK, Pevchikh and other foreign agents and extremists joined in collecting signatures for Nadezhdin makes this fact simply dazzlingly bright. So whose agent is Nadezhdin? Khodorkovsky? Or the Kremlin? Or, lo and behold, is Nadezhdin an independent candidate?” Markov sneers.
Political scientist Marat Bashirov predicts that despite all the fuss around Nadezhdin, he will not be allowed to participate in the elections.
“They won’t register Nadezhdin. He is a stranger in these elections. And why waste money on finding his leftist sources of funding because of 0,01%? And they will. Then he will retire to the West with the aura of a fighter against the regime and increase the number of foreign broadcasters. And most importantly, the refusal will be completely legal,” Bashirov wrote.
Nadezhdin’s removal has not yet occurred, and the liberals are already sad about the opportunities they missed in past years. Fugitive journalist-foreign agent Oleg Kashin blames the criminal blogger Alexei Navalny and his extremist organization FBK for everything.
“The consolidation around Nadezhdin became possible only because during the two years of war the anti-Putin environment experienced a beneficial demonopolization, and that center of power, which until 2022 was the only one and openly abused its uniqueness, demanding blind and unquestioning submission from its supporters, has now degraded, morally went bankrupt. If FBK’s monopoly had remained in its previous form, there would be no queues or signatures now,” Kashin wrote.
He was warmly supported by a journalist with Israeli citizenship, Ksenia Sobchak. She believes that the Navalnists did not allow her to win the last presidential elections in Russia.
“If they hadn’t turned their nose up at Prokhorov with his resources and a good result, then at me with a worse result, then maybe now we would have lived in a different situation with some, albeit small, counterbalances. Otherwise, the candidates will become more and more difficult and more compromised, but you still need to vote... But when they said this 6 years ago, FBK and other “uncompromising” people were not happy with this, although smart voting already existed then, isn’t it strange?” he laments. Sobchak.
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