The Congress of the Civil Initiative party nominated politician Boris Nadezhdin as a candidate for President of the Russian Federation
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The congress of the “Civil Initiative” party on Saturday was unanimously put forward Moscow region municipal deputy Boris Nadezhdin as a candidate for the presidency of the Russian Federation. Immediately after this, Mr. Nadezhdin, who had previously been elected to the State Duma from the Union of Right Forces (SPS), and to the Dolgoprudny City Council from A Just Russia, submitted an application to join the Civil Initiative. He admitted to reporters that he expects to collect 60–80 million rubles. to collect signatures, and at the end of the campaign hopes to “remain alive and free.”
The congress to nominate Boris Nadezhdin for president was held at the Izmailovo Hotel in Moscow. This complex is traditionally loved by many politicians: for example, in 2018, an initiative group to hold a referendum on the retirement age met here, which, however, was never organized. And this time, the Kommersant correspondent found himself at a crossroads: signs with arrows in the same direction led not only to the Congress of the Civil Initiative, but also to a meeting of the initiative group for the presidential nomination of Alexander Suslov (entrepreneur, owner of more than 200 profession, musician and captain of small boats, he reports about himself on his election website), as well as a meeting with the master of Reiki (a type of alternative medicine) Irina Kozlova.
By the way, in the morning of the same day, the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Ella Pamfilova, complained about the overload of her colleagues: 29 people had already notified the commission of their intention to run for president, and a representative of the Central Election Commission must be present at each nomination event. Apparently, that’s why Boris Nadezhdin and the “Civil Initiative” didn’t get a “whole” member of the commission, and the head of the commission’s staff, Olga Golovanova, came to the congress. But she was one of two people who accepted documents from presidential candidate Vladimir Putin on Monday.
The hero of the day appeared in the hall in an embrace with the chairman of the “Civil Initiative” Andrei Nechaev and, just in case, explained to those present that they were old friends: “Remember the three musketeers? Twenty years later, thirty years later,” he tried to calculate as he went (Boris Nadezhdin and the first Minister of Economy of post-Soviet Russia Nechaev were active members of the Union of Right Forces).
Opening the meeting, Andrei Nechaev made a short report. “The most important thing is that we are alive and preserved as a party,” he stated.
Moreover, despite the departure of a number of regional leaders, the “Civil Initiative”, according to its leader, is growing with new branches and members: participants are joining it liquidated in May 2023, “Parnas” and even the “gradually drying out” “Yabloko”.
As Mr. Nechaev admitted, he is very glad that Boris Nadezhdin decided to run for president, because the ex-minister himself is no longer ready for this. “We all understand what kind of elections these are,” the party leader immediately made a reservation, but participation in them is still important: you need to show the existence of an alternative, and also get a platform for the party to convey your position.
Then the floor was given to the potential candidate. “It’s great that we are all here today,” Boris Nadezhdin greeted the delegates. Although, as he admitted, it was not easy to do this: funds for the congress were raised thanks to crowdfunding and the “Headquarters of Candidates” team, led by former Yabloko member Dmitry Kisiev. “Everything that happens here was not done with the money of the oligarchs, it’s people who help us – this has never happened in my biography,” the deputy shared his secret, after which he moved on to the election program itself.
Mr. Nadezhdin explained that he was going to the elections with “a simple and understandable slogan: Putin must go.”
Mr. Nadezhdin considers the beginning of the SVO a “fatal mistake,” and the country, which has since been moving “in a rut of militarism and isolation,” needs, in his words, a “project for the future.”
The program will be divided into three parts: domestic political, economic (written by Andrei Nechaev) and foreign policy. In domestic politics, Boris Nadezhdin promises to restore federalism and local self-government, return fair elections, and first of all, release all political prisoners. In economics, we need respect for private property and an independent judiciary. In foreign policy, the main tasks are the completion of the SVO and the restoration of “constructive relations” with all countries, and somehow the problem of sanctions will have to be solved.
Then the floor was given to representatives of the regions and guests of the congress. “A lot has been said here about European values, I have a proposal: talk more often about the East,” Alexey Karnaukhov, a delegate from Buryatia, instructed the candidate. “After all, if you look at Europe on the map, then this is some kind of misunderstanding!” The leader of the Democratic Choice party, transformed into a public organization, Sergei Zhavoronkov explained to the congress participants that the main problem in the 2024 elections is not President Putin, but a “sect of boycotters” who explain “that there are no elections and everything is lost,” but in fact just they are trying to justify their “squalor and sitting on the couch.” “Shame them, enter into discussions with them!” – Mr. Zhavoronkov called.
As a result, all 60 delegates voted for the nomination of Boris Nadezhdin for president, after which the newly minted candidate announced that he was now finally ready to join the party and showed the statement he had already written.
Before the closing of the congress, Andrei Nechaev reminded representatives of regional branches that each of them owed money to the central apparatus of the party, from which it became clear that candidate Nadezhdin could hardly count on financial support from the Civil Initiative.
Mr. Nadezhdin told reporters that he has not yet been able to attract major sponsors: they are ready to finance the company only after it is registered. But there are 108 million voters in the country, the deputy is not discouraged, and if at least 25-30 million of them think like him and are ready to transfer at least 10 rubles, then the financial problem will be solved. The budget for collecting signatures alone (remember, the party candidate must submit at least 100 thousand) at the candidate’s headquarters is estimated at 60–80 million rubles, but it will be possible to announce the collection of funds for these purposes only after the opening of an electoral account. After the end of the congress, one of the journalists directly asked Boris Nadezhdin what he was counting on. “I hope to remain alive and free,” the candidate admitted optimistically.
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