A competitor, on paper only. The Russian nationalist and Kremlin loyalist, Leonid Slutsky, named Tuesday by his party as candidate for the March 2024 presidential election, immediately made his intentions clear: he predicted a “huge” victory for Vladimir Putin, candidate for his re-election.
Leonid Slutski’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) is one of the political groups constituting the parliamentary opposition on paper, but which in reality supports the master of the Kremlin. Leonid Sloutski is the first candidate designated to face Vladimir Putin, and a few others, equally attached to the Russian leader, should follow.
A strong supporter of the invasion of Ukraine
“I am not going to call for a vote against Putin. Voting for Slutsky and voting for the LDPR is absolutely not voting against Putin,” he told the press on Tuesday. “I will not take away votes from the President of Russia (…) the President of Russia will achieve a huge victory” he added, insisting on “the consolidation of society around (Vladimir Putin who) is absolutely unprecedented “.
This 55-year-old MP, who also chairs the Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, is a fervent supporter of the assault launched by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine almost two years ago. In 2018, he was accused of sexual harassment by several Russian journalists. A Duma Commission did not follow up on these accusations, which were rejected outright by the person concerned.
The presidential election of March 2024 has everything of a formality for Vladimir Putin, in power for almost a quarter of a century, while the opposition has been largely eradicated and repression having redoubled since the start of the offensive against Ukraine.