Russia is unlikely to hold presidential elections next year. According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin may choose not to hold presidential elections next year. The reason being that he is certain to win the re-election, Peskov stated on Sunday night, August 6, 2023.
Putin is expected to announce his candidacy for a sixth presidential term. Constitutional changes prior to the war allow him to remain as president until 2036.
“Although elections are a requirement of democracy and Putin has decided to hold them, theoretically it’s possible not to hold them,” Peskov told the Russian news site RBC.
“Because it’s already clear that Putin will be elected,” he said. However, Peskov clarified that this statement was entirely his personal opinion.
Peskov spoke with RBC after The New York Times quoted him as predicting a 90 percent victory for Putin in next year’s presidential election. “Our presidential elections are not actually democracy, it’s expensive bureaucracy. Mr. Putin will be re-elected next year with over 90 percent of the vote,” Peskov told NYT.
Peskov later claimed to have been misquoted. However, he emphasized to RBC that his projection of Putin’s significant victory was based on the level of societal consolidation around the Russian leader.
The next Russian presidential election is scheduled for March 17, 2024, amid the war with Ukraine. Mass anti-war protests are effectively banned under laws enacted after last year’s invasion. Most prominent opposition activists have fled abroad out of fear of imprisonment.
This year, elections in dozens of regions across Russia will be held in September. A total of 18 regional heads, members of 16 regional parliaments, and 12 city councils, as well as the mayor of Khabarovsk in the Far East, will be elected through direct voting. The Kremlin is also expected to hold voting in four Ukrainian regions claimed to have been annexed last autumn.
