MOSCOW—Russia’s national elections commission on Tuesday registered Nikolai Kharitonov, candidate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, to challenge President Vladimir Putin in the March election. Kharitonov, 75, joins two other candidates who were approved to run last week.
I doubt the party has a chance of ever unseating Putin, but Putin must die eventually and they are well-positioned for that eventuality. Moreso than Navalny, who’s lack of support makes him a non-starter.
It’s definitely the best option available in Russia. There are a couple of big factors working in favor of KPRF here.
First, a lot of people who lived in USSR are still alive, and generally have good things to say about it. Many still see USSR as the high point for Russia, and feel that a state run economy produces better outcomes than markets. There simply isn’t the same level of anti communist propaganda as there is in the west.
Here’s a recent poll from Russia:
And here’s another poll showing that most people think the Soviet economic system was more correct
Second, Russia is now increasingly falling into China’s orbit and people are seeing what the Communist party managed to achieve there. It doesn’t escape people that that if different decisions were made in the 90s, USSR could’ve followed a similar path to China. It’s very likely that KPRF will continue gaining legitimacy going forward, and Russia will eventually end up with a system similar to China.