RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 2008

The 'Russian Presidential election of 2008', scheduled to be held on 9 March, 2008,^[1] is widely expected to be a race between one or two official Kremlin-backed candidates, the candidates of the Communist forces and left-wing opposition, and nominees from the liberal opposition.

Contents

Kremlin-backed candidates

Other Candidates

The Other Russia

Alexander Lukashenko

References

Related Sites

Kremlin-backed candidates

Incumbent President Vladimir Putin, who is barred by the Russian Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term, is expected to back one of the current Deputy Prime Ministers, Sergei Ivanov or Dmitry Medvedev. On 1 February, 2007, Putin announced that he would not nominate a successor up front, but would back a candidate after the campaign had begun.^[2][3]
There is currently a great deal of speculation in the Russian and Western media as to who Putin's likely successor will be. In addition to Medvedev and Ivanov, other names which have been mentioned as possible candidates include governor of St Petersburg Valentina Matviyenko, head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin, leader of the United Russia party Boris Gryzlov, and the leader of the pro-Kremlin Fair Russia party, Sergei Mironov.

Other Candidates

Ten candidates have officially declared their intention to run for President in 2008. These are, in alphabetical order:

★ Soviet-era dissident Vladimir Bukovsky[1]. On August 3, 2007 he received a new Russian passport at the Russian Embassy in London and is due to arrive in Moscow in October to launch his campaign. [2]

★ the Mayor of Arkhangelsk Alexander Donskoi.

★ former head of the Central Bank Viktor Gerashchenko, deputy of the nationalist Rodina party who has now joined the Other Russia coalition[3], and is the favored candidate of former World Chess Champion and United Civil Front leader Garry Kasparov.[4]

★ former St Petersburg Yabloko regional legislator Sergei Gulyayev announced his intention to run, despite the fact that Yabloko's leader has also declared his intention to stand.[5] Gulyayev was the fourth candidate from the Other Russia coalition to announce his candidacy.

★ former Prime Minister and current leader of the Popular Democratic Union Mikhail Kasyanov

★ former Speaker of the Duma Gennadiy Seleznyov.

★ the hardline leader of the reconstituted Communist Party of the Soviet Union Oleg Shenin.

★ leader of the Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky, who also stood for the presidency in 1996 and in 2000.[6]

★ nationalist Deputy Speaker of the State Duma and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky

★ leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and former presidential candidate Gennady Zyuganov, who ran for President in 1996 (when he came short just a few percent of the votes) and 2000, but not in 2004.[7]

The Other Russia

There have been attempts by the Other Russia coalition to find a single candidate for the liberal opposition to unite around. However, the most prominent Other Russia activist, Garry Kasparov, has ruled himself out of the race.[8] A number of Other Russia coalition members have also launched their own campaigns, including Viktor Gerashchenko (who is favored by Kasparov) and Mikhail Kasyanov. Others, such as Grigory Yavlinsky and the right-wing Union of Right Forces, have refused to cooperate with the Other Russia due to the inclusion in the coalition of anti-democratic groups such as Eduard Limonov's National Bolshevik Party and Viktor Anpilov's Workers' Party. It is therefore unlikely that the opposition will be able to unite around a single candidate, and likely that the official Kremlin candidate will benefit not only from the continued popularity of Vladimir Putin and his United Russia party, but a splintered vote amongst all the opposition candidates.

Alexander Lukashenko

Some Russian nationalists, such as the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, have said they would like Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to become President in 2008, a move which is not possible under the Russian constitution.

References

1. Russia’s Presidential Election Set for March, 2008
2. Vladimir Putin's Press conference of February 1, 2007
3. President Promises a Free Election

Related Sites

★ TrendLines Election Projections Chart of Presidential contenders updated monthly