.bmp)
.bmp)
Russia's presidential election has been robbed of its last vestiges of credibility after the only candidate who openly dared to criticise Vladimir Putin was barred from running.The disqualification of Mikhail Kasyanov, a former prime minister, means that only three "approved" candidates will mount a token challenge against Dmitry Medvedev, the insider Mr Putin has selected as his successor, on March 2.However, the Kremlin's plan to give Mr Medvedev a substantial win - rather than a suspicious overwhelming victory - was in jeopardy after one of the three, Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov, threatened to leave the race against its wishes. By forcing out a dissenter while trying to persuade an "approved" candidate to stay in the race, the Kremlin runs the risk of failing to give the poll the veneer of a free contest, analysts said.Mr Kasyanov, a former prime minister sacked by Mr Putin in 2004, stood no chance of winning the election, with opinion polls showing his support at just one per cent.As the last independent candidate after prominent Kremlin critics like former chess champion Garry Kasparov dropped out, Mr Kasyanov was required to muster two million signatures supporting his bid.Mr Kasyanov's campaign team obtained 2,067,000 names but the Central Election Commission yesterday ruled that 80,000 of them were forged."The number of reliable signatures is therefore less than two million, which is the basis for denial of registration," Nikolai Konkin, the election commission's secretary, said."For this reason Kasyanov should be excluded from participation."Mr Kasyanov, who will formally be expelled on Monday and is also likely to be charged with criminal fraud, accused Mr Putin of trying to rig the election.Commentators say that the Kremlin feared that Mr Kasyanov, while never being popular, would criticise its record and expose secrets he learned in office."Kasyanov is the only serious opponent to the official candidate," said Alexander Konovalov, a political analyst. "This is a threat, tiny as it is."Mr Zyuganov, meanwhile, who is expected to poll 10 per cent of the vote, has said the race "is yet again turning into a squabble and a scandal".If he withdraws, the only other candidates left would be the ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and the little known Andrei Bogdanov, who claims democratic credentials but is widely dismissed as a Kremlin placeman.His party scored just 0.12 percent of the vote in the December parliamentary vote.As in the days of Noah....
