普京政治对手决心竞选总统

Alexei Navalny, Vladimir Putin’s most dogged political opponent, has vowed to force the Kremlin to allow him to run in next year’s presidential elections, in a move that will test the Russian leader’s confidence in his ability to hold on to power.

弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)最顽强的政治对手阿列克谢•纳瓦尔尼(Alexei Navalny)誓言要迫使克里姆林宫准许他参加明年的总统选举，此举将考验俄罗斯领导人对自己保住权力能力的信心。

The lawyer and anti-corruption campaigner said his latest criminal conviction, which under Russian law bars him from running for public office, could not prevent his presidential bid.

身为律师和反腐败活动人士的纳瓦尔尼表示，他受到的最新刑事定罪——根据俄罗斯法律将禁止他竞选公职——不能阻止他参加总统竞选。

“We will try to grow support in society until the Kremlin understands that it is necessary to admit me to the elections and the consequences of not admitting me will be even worse,” Mr Navalny said in his first interview since he was convicted of embezzlement last week. “This is a political campaign for a change of power.”

“我们将努力扩大社会支持，直至克里姆林宫明白有必要让我参加选举，而且不让我参选的后果将更加糟糕，”纳瓦尔尼在自上周被判犯有挪用公款罪后的首次采访中表示，“这是一场促使权力更替的政治运动。”

Even Mr Putin’s critics think it unlikely Mr Navalny would pose a serious threat, given the president’s support ratings of about 80 per cent. But observers believe the way the Kremlin deals with the opposition politician will reflect how safe the Russian leader feels.

即使普京的批评者都认为，鉴于现任总统高达约80%的支持率，纳瓦尔尼不太可能对其构成严重威胁。但观察人士相信，克里姆林宫对付这位反对派政治人士的方式，将反映出俄罗斯领导人自身安全感的程度。

A court in the city of Kirov gave Mr Navalny a five-year suspended prison sentence on February 9, mirroring a sentence handed down in 2013. Russia’s supreme court in December cancelled the earlier ruling after the European Court of Human Rights found Mr Navalny had not been given a fair trial.

2月9日，基洛夫市一家法院判处纳瓦尔尼5年徒刑，缓期执行，重复了2013年作出的量刑。在欧洲人权法院(European Court of Human Rights)认为纳瓦尔尼没有得到公正审判之后，俄罗斯最高法院去年12月取消了早先对他的判决。

“None of these legal things matter. That’s only the formalisation, the procedure,” Mr Navalny said. “The question is a political question. The Kremlin decides the question of elections by not admitting people to [them].”

“这些法律方面的事情都不要紧。这只是形式，是过程，”纳瓦尔尼说，“现在的问题是政治问题。克里姆林宫不让人民加入(他们)，决定着选举问题。”

In July 2013, immediately after Mr Navalny registered to run for Moscow mayor, the Kirov court found him guilty on the embezzlement charges for the first time, resulting in a ban on his running for public office. But after supporters gathered in Moscow to protest at his exclusion from the ballot, the court, at the request of the prosecution, freed him pending an appeal — a step widely seen as ordered by the Kremlin.

2013年7月，纳瓦尔尼刚一登记竞选莫斯科市长，基洛夫市法院便首次判他犯有挪用公款罪，致使他被禁止竞选公职。但在纳瓦尔尼的支持者在莫斯科集会抗议他被排除在竞选门外后，法院应检方的要求释放了纳瓦尔尼以等候上诉——此举普遍被视为是克里姆林宫下令的。

Although the Putin-appointed incumbent won, Mr Navalny took more than 27 per cent of the vote, a surprisingly strong result given his total absence from mainstream media and lack of access to financial resources other than private fundraising.

虽然普京指定的原莫斯科市长获胜，但纳瓦尔尼获得了超过27%的选票，这是一个出人意料的强劲结果——考虑到他完全不被主流媒体报道，且除了私人募捐外没有其他财源。

The opposition politician now pledges to repeat his Moscow feat. He would do “exactly what we did regarding the mayoral elections in Moscow. We forced them,” he said.

如今，这位反对派政治人士誓言要再现自己在莫斯科市长选举中的不俗表现。他将“重复我们在莫斯科市长选举中的做法。我们迫使他们接受，”他说。

Mr Navalny has opened campaign offices in Moscow and St Petersburg, collected more than Rbs15m campaign funds and attracted pledges from more than 25,000 people willing to work as campaign volunteers. Over the next two weeks, the campaign will kick off in Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg, Russia’s third- and fourth-largest cities and Mr Navalny aims to have campaign offices in the country’s 77 largest cities by summer.

纳瓦尔尼已在莫斯科和圣彼得堡开设竞选办公室，筹集了1500多万卢布的竞选资金，并且吸引了超过2.5万人的承诺愿意承担竞选志愿者工作。接下来两周，纳瓦尔尼的竞选活动将在俄罗斯第三和第四大城市——新西伯利亚市和叶卡捷琳堡启动，纳瓦尔尼计划在今夏之前在全国77个大型城市都拥有竞选办公室。

“By the time we open our 10th campaign office, the level of pushback [from the authorities] will become clear,” he said.

“到我们开设第10家竞选办公室的时候，(来自当局的)阻力将变得清晰，”他说。

Candidates will not be officially registered until December, three months before the polls, and Mr Putin is expected to announce his re-election campaign only then.

候选人直至今年12月(投票前3个月)才能正式登记，预计普京只有到那时才会宣布竞选连任。