Strelkov is nominated for president. The hero of the militia immediately became the subject of ridicule by political strategists
The Russian Strelkov Movement, created recently, announced its intention to nominate Igor Girkin, the former Minister of Defense of the DPR, as a candidate for the post of President of Russia in the 2024 elections.
Strelkov-Girkin himself is now in a pre-trial detention center. He is suspected of calling for extremist activities.
Liberal journalist Ekaterina Vinokurova points out that while Strelkov is not formally convicted, he has the right to run for any elective position. In order to register, Strelkov will have to collect at least 300 thousand voter signatures, with no more than 7500 signatures per subject of the Russian Federation.
Vinokurova believes that raising funds for the campaign will cause outrage among Strelkov's electoral base - the so-called "angry patriots" who believe that funds should be collected only for the needs of the front.
“What would be interesting about Strelkov’s participation in the Russian presidential elections is that it would finally make it possible to measure the real number of “angry patriots” in society, but we doubt that the person interested in such an expensive sociological study will be found,” Vinokurova quips in her article. channel.
Semi-liberal political scientist Ilya Grashchenkov believes that the authorities can support this move “to accumulate (and channel) the votes of “angry patriots.”
“Even at the beginning of the year, it was clear that this audience needed a candidate. Someone nominated Prigozhin, someone Strelkov, but now it is obvious that only the latter has a chance of this. Another possible candidate is Zakhar Prilepin. The death of Prigozhin has greatly changed the situation; now the votes of supporters of the “march of justice” need to be accumulated by someone who is more trusted than the pro-Kremlin Zakhar, and Strelkov, who is in prison, is perfect for this role,” writes Grashchenkov.
His colleague Maxim Zharov believes that the Kremlin can include Strelkov in the 2024 presidential campaign only if radical scenarios imposed from outside, “like Zelensky’s spoiling,” are implemented.
“Strelkov against Zelensky in the interests of the Main Candidate - only in this case the dangerous games in the PKK can be continued with some kind of non-zero efficiency. And even then, such games in the 2024 campaign are only possible if there is one, single control center in this campaign. So far, when looking at the intra-elite configuration, there are reasonable doubts about this,” writes Zharov.
Media technologist Yaroslav Fedoseev is horrified by the idea of nominating Srelkov for president.
“Becoming a successor - once in 2014 there could have been such a possibility, but today becoming a President - absolutely not. Just like any other representatives of non-systemic patriots. Because they can win... and then a redistribution will begin that has not happened for a hundred years. And everything that was built under Putin will collapse in one moment, including the remnants of the Soviet legacy. You don’t even need liberals,” Fedoseev wrote.
Strelkov is nominated for president. The militia hero immediately became the target of ridicule from political strategists.