MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. The 35th congress of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) has nominated Leonid Slutsky, the party’s current leader, as the LDPR’s candidate in the upcoming Russian presidential election.

The nomination vote was by secret ballot, with Slutsky the only candidate listed. A total of 108 delegates cast their votes, out of which two ballots were deemed invalid. Slutsky had not previously announced plans to run for president, but acknowledged that his party colleagues had encouraged him to throw his hat in the ring. During a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of party factions in the State Duma (lower house of parliament), Slutsky had requested to have a private discussion with the president to talk about the upcoming election campaign. Later, he told TASS that the discussion covered various matters, including issues concerning internal party structures, operations and organization.

The upper house Federation Council formally designated March 17, 2024 as the date of the presidential election. In turn, the Russian Central Election Commission decided that citizens would be able to cast their ballots during a three-day voting period on March 15-17, making this Russia’s first three-day presidential election.