In order to submit documents to the Central Election Commission, we first have to complete the candidate nomination procedure. We understood perfectly well that this would be a very vulnerable moment for us. It’s quite easy to disrupt something like this, and without it we simply won’t have the documents needed to file.
We spent a year campaigning, gathered many tens of thousands of supporters, opened campaign offices across the country—and then, just like that, failed to submit our documents to the election commission.
That is why we announced that we would hold 20 voter groups to nominate the candidate in different cities across the country. We are the only campaign headquarters capable of doing this.
I myself will be at the initiative group meeting in Moscow. But I can tell you this: it’s Thursday now, the most important event is on Sunday, and we still do not fully know where we will hold it. One thing I do know: we will definitely hold it.
It’s the same old story: everyone we approach says “yes” at first, and then calls back the next day and nervously says, “Oh, you know—no.”
We’ve already given up on indoor venues and decided to rent a section of the beach in Serebryany Bor (a park and recreation area in Moscow) and put up a tent there. Something like this:
A week ago they told us “yes,” yesterday it was “oh, we were forbidden—no,” and today (after the Central Election Commission said it would send representatives to that beach) it seems to be “yes” again.
We are absolutely going to do this. Indoors, on the beach, in a tent, on the street, in a parking lot, in a cafeteria, in McDonald’s, by the Kremlin—I don’t know where, but we will definitely hold it, no matter what provocations arise. So I urge everyone who signed up for the group in Moscow to arm themselves with determination, patience, and a philosophical attitude. We’ll get it done.
The same strange things are happening in the regions as well. On the one hand, election commissions say: these are nomination groups, and we are sending representatives. On the other hand, local authorities and the police are declaring these groups to be rallies.
The worst situation is in Vladivostok, where the Interior Ministry’s Center “E” (the anti-extremism unit) is directly threatening the person who filed our meeting notice, saying that a criminal case will be opened against him for holding the gathering. A similar situation exists in Saratov.
The Tyumen city administration issued a statement saying that “such a gathering is regarded as a rally, which cannot be held outdoors without approval from the authorities.”
The Committee for Legality and Public Order of the St. Petersburg administration was no surprise. They also believe that a meeting of a voter group is a rally.
The Election Commission of the Republic of Bashkortostan honestly said that it does not understand the legislation and that the Central Election Commission should sort it out.
We have filed our first official complaint with the Central Election Commission. Legally, the position is simple. The law “On the Election of the President of the Russian Federation” is a special law and takes precedence. The procedure has been followed, and the election commission was notified.
Election commissions in Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, and Irkutsk take the same position. There, representatives of the election commissions will attend our meetings.
So to everyone who signed up for groups in the regions as well (the list of addresses is here), my message is the same: stay calm and confident. The law is on our side; these are not rallies, but voter groups gathering to vote for the nomination of a candidate. This procedure must be carried out. And we will carry it out.
Soon, those who signed up for the nomination group in Moscow will receive a message with the exact address.
Thank you all for your support and persistence.