Moscow: The opposition in Russia will only be able to put forward a presidential candidate popular enough to challenge Vladimir Putin “in one and half or even two years at the earliest”, a former minister and supporter of the protest movement has said.
Putin’s victory in the March presidential elections was inevitable since none of the current candidates for the presidential post was popular enough to compete with him, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin wrote on the website of the opposition Ekho Moskvy radio station.
A latest public survey conducted by state pollster VTSiOM Dec 24-25 showed 45 percent of Russians supported Putin’s candidacy for the presidential post.
Putin’s closest competitor, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, was supported by only 10 percent of the 1,600 Russians polled in more than 150 locations across the country. (IANS)
