Millions of Russians critical of the Kremlin are facing a dilemma as they waver between boycotting the war-time legislative elections with a clear and predictable winner, United Russia, or supporting any candidate to diminish the votes of the state party.
“What should we do?”, many Russians ask themselves, in a context where the five parties with parliamentary representation support the general lines of President Vladimir Putin’s policy, and the only pacifist formation, Yabloko, can barely present a few candidates, according to Agerpres.
And this in a context where supporters from the opposition consider the vote to be another “special operation,” this time to demonstrate what President Putin calls the “consolidation of the Russian people” around the military campaign in Ukraine.
The boycott, a gift for the Kremlin
Opposition figures, such as Garry Kasparov, see no point in participating in the Kremlin’s “farce” of an election, which is why they openly call for a boycott, as they have already done in elections organized before the outbreak of war, such as the 2018 presidential elections or the 2020 constitutional referendum.
Not a few are the Russians who have supported this option in recent years, including in the 2024 presidential elections, considering the low level of participation, especially in the big cities.
On the other hand, those who oppose, like the popular journalist Dmitri Kolezev, believe that the boycott “is a gift for the Kremlin” because the fewer people vote, the easier it will be to manipulate the results.
The Kremlin is pleased that the participation in the vote of those who criticize it is low because administration employees, such as military personnel, officials, state company employees, teachers, and medical staff, always vote.
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