What the hell do we need elections like this for?

Russia’s entire system of government is broken

in a completely grotesque way, and it doesn’t suit any of us

one bit. Look:

Sverdlovsk Oblast has a population of more than 4

million people. The Urals—the backbone of Russia—

factories, industry, the whole package. It’s a very

important region for the entire country. And all of us

need it to live normally

and develop. And now there’s an election there,

believe it or not, they’re going to choose

a new governor. So how should

a healthy political system work

in a case like this? Very simply. All willing

candidates collect signatures or pay

a deposit, run in the election, present

their platforms, argue, debate. The public

watches all of this, votes, and

the strongest candidate becomes governor.

That person has the people’s trust, and will

try to govern properly,

to do a good job, so that in the next

election they’ll be re-elected. And how does

the smoker’s version of the system work? (a Russian meme contrasting a “healthy person” with a “smoker” as a dysfunctional version)

Exactly the way it’s happening right now

in Sverdlovsk Oblast. There are

these so-called municipal filters, tricky

nomination procedures, election commissions, and all

the rest of it, all with

one single purpose: to keep strong candidates

out of the election so that

a corrupt crook from United Russia

is guaranteed to win. Basically,

when there’s no fish, even a crayfish counts as fish. That’s exactly what

is happening in the Urals right now. There is

a very popular politician there, Yevgeny

Roizman. He is the mayor of Yekaterinburg, the capital

of Sverdlovsk Oblast. So when I

say he is a popular politician, that’s not my

personal opinion, it’s simply a fact. After all,

this man was elected mayor

of the largest city, with a population of nearly

1.5 million people. Hundreds of thousands of people

have already voted for him, and

relying on the support of those people,

he decided to run for governor.

Does he have that right? Of course he does.

Is society interested

in him taking part? Yes, it is,

because the more strong candidates there are,

the better. But from the very first minute of his

nomination, the entire apparatus of power—from Russia’s Central Election Commission

down to the regional authorities—kept explaining

to us why it would be extremely difficult for him

to secure a place in the election, saying

that here he had done something wrong,

there he had filled out some paperwork incorrectly. And

it ended yesterday. Roizman failed to pass

the so-called municipal filter, and he will not take part

in the election. From the standpoint

of the public interest and

the interests of the state, this is very

bad. But from the point of view of the Kremlin and

United Russia, everything is wonderful. Now

the governor is guaranteed to be

the unpopular United Russia candidate Yevgeny Kuyvashev,

who

was very, very, very afraid of competition from

Roizman. The outcome of the election is predetermined. So

the question is, my friends: what the hell do we need

such elections for at all? What kind of

election is it if they won’t allow a candidate in

who is the mayor of the largest city? And

who are all these people, anyway, who won’t

let him run? Some clowns

from the presidential administration, some

crooks from United Russia whom we don’t even

know. No one elected them

to anything. They have never

taken part in elections. Take Sergey Kiriyenko, the Kremlin’s chief

political manager—he has participated in

an election only once. It was the Moscow mayoral election

in 1999. And

he got 11 percent there. Roizman, by contrast,

in the last election,

got 33 percent. But now, for some reason, it is precisely

Kiriyenko who decides who in our country can be

a candidate and who cannot. They sit there

discussing it like, “No, this one doesn’t

suit us, we won’t let him in.” Who do you

think you are to block him? He’s a mayor, he

was elected, he’s well known, he represents

a large group of people—but no,

he can’t.

That’s what they decided. This is all nonsense. And this

is exactly what turns power in Russia into

a structure that represents no one

except a handful of officials.

If you elect me president, I will

abolish all these municipal filters and

all these barriers. I will make sure that

election commissions stop acting like the bosses

of candidates, and instead run around themselves,

process paperwork, help with

registration, and do everything possible so that more

candidates can take part in elections and, accordingly,

more people are

represented in elections. Something like

barring a candidate from an election will

be considered a crime in the beautiful

Russia of the future. And as for

this specific election, the election

for governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast,

it can no longer be called an election. And I

call on all residents of the region to

boycott it. And, incidentally,

Roizman himself has already called for that as well. I believe that

this election must be boycotted, and I

urge all sensible

people and my supporters to do so. And not just

boycott it in the sense of, “I’ll

stay on the couch and not go to

vote,” but to actively campaign

for a boycott, call on everyone around you

to boycott it, speak out actively,

and state plainly that a governor

chosen through such manipulations will be recognized by no one;

his authority and all of his

officials will be rejected and

to ignore it. I call on all

supporters to help me spread

this video and make sure that everyone in

the Urals, everyone watches this clip, and the Urals

show their character and make it clear

to the Kremlin that no one will go to

the polling stations and no one will

take part in this disgusting

sham. If you agree with me,

sign in support of nominating

my candidacy. The link is in

the description. Subscribe to our channel.

This is where the truth is told.