October 3, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Russian President Putin has announced his intention to head the Unified Russia party's list of candidates for December's elections to the State Duma. In surprise statements made at a congress of the pro-Kremlin ruling party, Putin also said he was not opposed to eventually becoming prime minister. Some policy watchers predict the move will hand Unified Russia more than 70 percent of the vote. Becoming prime minister would also enable Putin to remain in power after his second and last presidential term ends in March 2008. RFE/RL's Russian Service asked some of Russia's top opposition leaders to comment on Putin's latest move.
Garry Kasparov
Head of the United Civic Front since 2005; named the presidential candidate of the Other Russia bloc in September. United Civic Front is a fairly new organization that is united primarily by its opposition to the policies of President Vladimir Putin. It advocates an open political system and grassroots participation. The United Civic Front is not officially registered and is not eligible to participate in the December 2 Duma elections.
"What we are dealing with here is a kind of referendum to measure trust in Putin, in the tsar, rather than parliamentary elections. It's obvious that this de facto referendum that will take place on [December] 2 renders the election process pointless. For us, putting forward a list was a declaratory and fundamental gesture, because it's important to develop an alternative reality. If a political crisis breaks out in the country -- and I think that's inevitable -- there needs to be an alternative source of legitimacy.
"Several scenarios are possible, but one thing is clear: Putin has decided to stay and control the situation. He represents a certain camp in the political debate, and that's something [former President Boris] Yeltsin did not do. Yeltsin's system was based on the concept of a president as the father of all Russians; he didn't directly participate in the political process. Putin will give a shape to the content that is emerging in what we can call a soft one-party dictatorship in the style of the former GDR [East Germany]."
Nikita Belykh
Chairman of the National Political Council of the Union of Rightist Forces (SPS) since May 2005. The SPS
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