“Of course, the campaign will be competitive, because it is obvious that there will be more than one candidate. In any case, there are now more than 30 candidates,” she said.
The CEC chief pointed out that now the candidates have “organizational time”, they “hold events, parties hold congresses.”
“In my opinion, the level of competition depends not so much on the number of candidates as on their quality,” Pamfilova added.
The presidential election is scheduled for a three-day period from March 15 to 17, with the winner to be inaugurated in May. It will be the first time a presidential election in Russia has been held over multiple days, after the format was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Several major Russian parties, including the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR), and New People have signaled they will put forward candidates. In addition, multiple public figures and politicians have already announced their intent to run for office as independents.
