Gorbachev slams leaders

FORMER Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has criticised the government for taking Russia backwards and said the nation needs free elections and fresh leadership.

Gorbachev was speaking ahead of the 20th anniversary of the August 19, 1991, coup that briefly ousted him and precipitated the collapse of the Soviet Union.

He criticised the United Russia party led by prime minister Vladimir Putin, describing it as a bad copy of the Soviet Communist Party.

He said Russia needs to restore direct elections of governors and single-ballot elections to the parliament, which were abolished during Putin’s presidency.