Decks clear for Putin's re-election: Navalny barred to contest 2018 presidential polls

Moscow: As speculated, Russia's central election commission on Monday rejected the registration of the opposition leader Navalny's candidacy for the upcoming presidential election in the country.

According to local media, 12 out of 15 commission members voted against Alexei Navalny's bid to register as a candidate in the March 2018 election to run against popular incumbent Vladimir Putin (65). This will facilitate the re-election of Putin, already a dominated political entity in Russia for 17 years, to another six year-term till 2024.

ALSO READ: Prez Kovind visits ashram near Hyderabad, plants sapling

Navalny (41) , who leads the anti-corruption Progress Party, said he would appeal the decision before Russia's constitutional court, adding that he was nonetheless "aware that the court is part of the same system."

A prominent Putin critic, Navalny has been arrested multiple times by Russian authorities, who have charged him with several counts of embezzlement and fraud; this led to a conviction in 2013 and another in 2014, though the prison sentences were later suspended.

ALSO READ: 32 killed in Saudi coalition airstrikes in Yemen

Due to his official criminal record, the election commission decided to deny Navalny his application by arguing that he had lost his right to passive suffrage following the convictions.

Thousands of Navalny's followers on Sunday had taken to the streets in several cities throughout Russia to support his candidacy.

(with inputs from IANS)