Meet the Russian woman who plans to stand against President Putin in the upcoming 2018 presidential elections—Ksenia Sobchak.
Who is Ksenia Sobchak?
The mother of one has been dubbed Russian “Paris Hilton”. She is a top Russian celebrity and blogger with 5.3 million followers, as well as a TV personality. Her CV even includes modelling for Playboy.
The daughter of Putin’s mentor Anatoly Sobchak is 35 years old, the lowest age limit allowing a person to seek the position of the President of Russia. Her mother is senator Lyudmila Narusova. Her late father was the first democratically elected mayor of St. Petersburg, the second largest Russian metropolis.
Ksenia has a degree in international relations from the most prestigious Moscow university. She is married with a son who turns 1 next month. She speaks English, French, and Spanish.
- Official website: https://ksenia-sobchak.com/
- Instagram: @xenia_sobchak
Sobchak is best known as the host of popular reality TV show “Dom-2” (1 star out of 10 on IMDB). On the show participants built a house while trying to find love at the same time.
Currently she is a TV anchor of the independent channel Dozhd (“Rain”).
Is Ksenia Sobchak the first female presidential candidate in Russia?
No, there were already two ladies seeking to be elected to the position of Russian president.
- Ella Pamfilova collected just over 1% of votes in 2000.
- Irina Khakamada stood in 2004 and gathered under 4% of votes.
Is Ksenia Sobchak already an official candidate for the position of the President of Russia?
Not yet. She will need to collect 300,000 signatures to register as a candidate not later than 35 days before the voting day 18 March 2018.
Not more than 7.5 thousand signatures are allowed from any of 85 federal subjects of the Russian Federation. So, an applicant will need signatures from at least 40 federal subjects—regions and autonomous republics.
Other requirements to independent candidates, according to KP.ru:
- No less than 500 supporters, who have to be registered with the election committee.
- No personal bank accounts in foreign banks.
- A registered election fund, which cannot exceed 400 million rubles (about US$ 7 million). 10% of the fund can be financed by the candidate; the rest comes from citizens and companies. Candidates are not allowed to finance the campaign from other sources than the registered fund.
- The candidate is not allowed to have a foreign citizenship or a permit to live in another country; cannot have a criminal record for a felony.
Any citizen of the Russian Federation older than 35 years old, who resides in the country for 10 years or more, can seek to be elected as the President. You don’t have to be born in Russia.
- Rumours about Sobchak’s ambitions to stand in presidential elections started to circulate in early September 2017.
- She announced her decision to seek candidacy on 18 October.
What Ksenia Sobchak stands for?
Her campaign motto is “Against everyone”.
During her first press-conference on 24 October she set the following points, as per Lenta.ru:
- Announced her opinion that Crimea is a Ukrainian territory, from the point of view of the international law. She pointed out the need to repair relations between the two countries as “the most major task that stands in front of Russia today”.
- Announced that her major task is to help poor become richer.
- Denounced connection with the current presidential administration and insisted she was independent.
- Confirmed her respect for President Putin, who “practically saved life” of her father.
- At the same time, she was vocal about the fact she is against the system where one person can hold power for 18 years.
- Stated that she would withdraw her candidature if oppositional politician Alexei Navalny manages to register as a presidential contender, so that the opposition could have a united front.
The local political commentators don’t give a chance to the pretty blonde in the forthcoming elections. Some even doubt her ability to gather enough signatures to register as a candidate.
By the way, in Russia Ksenia is viewed as unattractive and often compared to a horse.
Video: Meet Ksenia Sobchak
Find out more about the most controversial contender in the upcoming Russian presidential elections.
Featured photo: ksenia-sobchak.com
Share this article
Serious candidate, or set up as a straw man candidate to make it look as if Putin is running against real opponents? You make the call!
PS: If she’s serious, she shouldn’t be. A 35 year old with a young baby, no political experience, and who immediately espouses an unpopular view is basically trying to fail.
It’s pretty good to have a candidate like this. She is a smart woman and can bring new ideas into society. Her politic program seems like European standard with other values. Finally, we can get a new point of view instead of nowadays position of Russia in the World. Also, Ksenia wants to combine her efforts with Navalny. I think that this duo is a Russian future.
President Putin is a close family friend, Alexei Navalny dismisses Ksenia Sobchak as a Kremlin stooge, a “liberal laughing stock” and an opposition “caricature”, brought in to lend legitimacy to a sham vote.
So.
No change then.
I suppouse that was not very wise of Ksenia to try to become a candidate for president. Even though her father was a famous politician, she doesn’t have much experience in this area. I agree that she is a professional journalist and tv host but honestly if she managed to become a candidate, I wouldn’t vote for her.
Ksenia Sobchak is not typical of Russian women. She gives ground to scandals and tries to do everything for the journalists to speak about her. I don’t think that all this is serious for a political woman.