Russian Presidential Campaign Enters Homestretch: Candidates Get Last Word in Before Media Blackout
Of course, this week we'll definitely talk about the presidential campaign in Russia. Time flies. Next Saturday is the day of the news blackout, and the election is next Sunday.
Our political correspondent Pavel Zarubin reports on how the candidates use this Saturday.
March 18th, 2018 Russia's Presidential Election. Only one week remains until the presidential election.
Those who'll be far away from home on election day only have two days to choose their electoral district. I remind you, you can register to vote on gosuslugi.ru, at multifunctional centers, as well as territorial, and district election commission offices. The voter registration deadline is the night after tomorrow. Presidential candidates have 6 days left to campaign. So, we have plenty of news, even though it's the weekend.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky: How much was it? 27 out of 30?
A minute later, Vladimir Zhirinovsky is presented with this bullet-riddled target.
- There you go, 28 points.
- 28? Out of 30? On March 20th, I'll hang it up in my office in the Kremlin.
Tomorrow is Private Security Officer's Day. Considering how many there are in our country, it's no ordinary event. These former law enforcement officers practice here so that they don't lose their skills, remaining well-prepared potential defenders of the country.
Talking about the armed forces, Zhirinovsky mentioned the recent statement made by Bulgaria's government. For many people, it was controversial. Supposedly, Bulgaria was freed from Ottoman oppression by Russia, Finland, and Poland. But, historically speaking, there was one country and one army.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, LDPR presidential candidate: "This confirms my thesis and the LDPR's thesis — don't help anyone. We free them, losing hundreds of thousands of people, and in 100 years they tell us it wasn't us. They have no shame. Where's the Slavic solidarity? We liberated them and they went up against us in WWI and WWII, and now they're all in NATO".
Ksenia Sobchak: “Say "no" to garbage! Say "no" to garbage!”
Kseniya Sobchak is at a protest near Moscow, next to the Yadrovo landfill. According to the locals, the smell became unbearable at the end of February.
Ksenia Sobchak, Civic Initiative presidential candidate: "Countries around the world have different technologies for garbage processing. We demand Russia to use new technologies for garbage processing. Stop burning garbage and start recycling it. We want this introduced here and now".
Sobchak gives out respirators, and she also wears one as she goes to the landfill.
Landfill site chief: We have 15 landfill sites in the region, 15 of them. Where will it go?
Ksenia Sobchak: They need to build new sites.
- We're ready to build.
The CPRF has held their rally in the heart of Moscow today. Their main slogan is "For a fair and honest election".
Pavel Grudinin, CPRF presidential candidate: "What is a fair election? It's decent pensions, free education, free medicine. A fair election is when people come and vote for a program. Our 20-step program is a program for the country's renewal".
After his speech, the CPRF candidate left. He didn't accept questions from the press.
- Let us through, please.
Maksim Suraikin: "This is the flag of the Communists of Russia (KR)".
KR candidate Maksim Suraikin broke the barriers between Russia and Belarus.
Maksim Suraikin, KR presidential candidate: 'Within our party's program to fight capitalism and American imperialism, there's a path to rebuilding the Soviet Union via the reunification of countries. As much as it is possible today, we must move towards one big united country".
Early voting in the Russian presidential election took place in two Greek cities, Rethymno in Crete and Volos. Tomorrow, early voting will take place in Heraklion in Crete and Patras in Peloponnese.
According to the election committee center, overseas voting is very active. In some countries, electoral districts even have lines. The Russian presidential election will be held in 145 countries.
Sergey Baburin: "What happened to the 60 million that was budgeted for this? It was collected".
In one of Tolyatti's tower-blocks, Sergey Baburin saw for himself how different floors look in the same building. One was repaired by the residents who didn't want to wait for the HOA. The other one remains the same as the residents wait for the HOA.
Sergey Baburin, ROS presidential candidate: "People pay taxes and fees, they sponsor the HOA. Why does the money that was collected by the residents go to God knows where?"
Grigory Yavlinsky: "I apologize, I'm losing my voice, and the election is coming to an end".
For Grigory Yavlinsky, this is his 16th city in his presidential campaign. Today, he told Yaroslavl residents what he considers Russia's culture code.
Grigory Yavlinsky, Yabloko presidential candidate: "The culture code is what needs to be done in Russia to improve the economy and decrease poverty so that Russia can finally become a modern country. This means freedom, creativity, and equal opportunity. This is what we must work for. Sure, it can't be done in a day. But, we must work in this direction."
- Thank you very much.
In Putin's St. Petersburg campaign headquarters, Alisa Freindlich and Mikhail Boyarsky told us why they support their candidate.
Alisa Freindlich, USSR's People's Artist: "I've been alive for a long time, I've lived under different regimes. I admit, this is the first time I'm not ashamed, I've never been ashamed of my country's leader. He handles all the pressure he's under with dignity. He remains worthy in all these political squabbles. Hence, he preserves the dignity of our country, and this is important to me".
On election day, there will be hundreds of thousands of election observers. The decision to send their representatives was made by the Civic Chamber and the candidates' campaign headquarters. No less than 1000 observers will arrive from overseas, from the IPA CIS, CSTO, SCO, and OSCE. Many of them have already begun their work in Russia. They are now monitoring the presidential campaign.