Russia Bars Kremlin Critic From Running for Presidentbr 25, 2017br MOSCOW — Russian election officials on Monday barred the opposition leader Aleksei A. Navalnyfrom running in next year’s presidential election, a widely expected decisionbr that prompted him to call for his supporters to boycott the election and take part in street protests.br Navalny said that We will campaign against this fake election and persuade people not to take part in it,br Navalny said that We won’t have an election because Vladimir Putin is horribly afraid, he sees a threat in competing with me,br Mr. Putin wrote that Elections now look like games of the Night Hockey League, where Putin, in the company of 10 lackeys, scores eight goals,br "He gave an instruction to his servants from the Central Electoral Commission to reject my registration."br In the video, Mr. Navalny called on his supporters to boycott the election, scheduled for March.br At the Central Election Commission on Monday, Mr. Navalny engaged in a heated debate with Ella A. Pamfilova, whobr was elected as the commission’s chairwoman in 2016 amid demands for fairness and transparency in elections.