Kremlin plans new law to block Alexei Navalny’s wife from election run

Russia could introduce a law to prevent the wife of the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny from running for parliament.

Yulia Navalnaya. Picture: AFP

Russia could introduce a new law to prevent the wife of the imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny from running for parliament this autumn, a senior official has said.

Although Yulia Navalnaya, 44, has not commented on speculation that she could stand in elections scheduled for September, pro-Kremlin figures are concerned that the move could galvanise opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the parliamentary speaker, said he was in favour of barring Russians from seeking public office if the Kremlin deemed them to be working in the interest of foreign countries. Russia has accused Mr Navalny of being a CIA agent but has provided no evidence to back up its claim. “We see how great the desire of a number of countries is to interfere in our elections to promote their loyal candidates,” Mr Volodin said. “This cannot be allowed.”

Mr Navalny was jailed last week for two years and eight months on fraud charges that he said were politically motivated. His arrest on January 17 triggered some of the biggest protests since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Mr Volodin made his comments after a pro-Putin business organisation urged the government to bar “foreign agents” and their family members from standing for public office.

The Business Patriots group said it feared that Ms Navalnaya could emulate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the housewife who inspired nationwide protests in neighbouring Belarus after her husband, a well-known opposition activist, was jailed before elections in August. “A fire is easier to prevent than it is to put out,” the group said.

The Times