The `unrivaled` duel of President Putin

(Dan Tri) – Observers say that there seems to be no opponent strong enough to stand in the way of Russian President Vladimir Putin being elected for a fourth term. However, according to them, he still needs to create a special mark.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: AFP)

Announced his candidacy at the last minute

The Russian presidential election has begun after the country’s parliament set an election date of March 18, 2018.

To date, about 30 people have declared their intention to run for president of Russia, but only the Russian Communist Party has nominated a candidate, Mr. Pavel Grudinin.

President Putin in the middle of this month also officially announced his intention to run for re-election as an independent candidate, something that had never happened in his previous terms.

Some experts believe that the reason President Putin kept his re-election plans secret until the last minute was to minimize the election campaign – a time when voters would normally have clear fluctuations.

Running as independent candidates, in addition to Mr. Putin, there are also Sergei Polonski – a real estate businessman, and Ksenia Sobchak – a famous journalist and television announcer.

Opposition party leader – activist Alexei Navalny – also registered to run for president over the weekend, but was rejected due to criminal charges.

The `unrivaled` race

Activist Navalny (right) and female MC Sobchak (Photo: TASS)

While all political parties have expressed support for President Putin, the remaining candidates are considered unlikely to stop him.

One of the figures said to be a big challenge to Mr. Putin’s race to the Kremlin is 41-year-old activist Navalny.

However, the Russian Election Commission yesterday rejected Mr. Navalny’s bid to run because of his criminal history.

Another opponent of Mr. Putin in the race to the Kremlin is female TV host Ksenia Sobchak.

According to opinion polls, if Ms. Sobchak or Mr. Navalny were to run as independent candidates, their support vote rate could range from 1% to 2%, or even up to 7%.

However, with President Putin’s support rate always high, these numbers do not have much meaning.

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Minh Phuong

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