Kremlin critic barred from presidential election

The most vocal Kremlin critic in Russia’s presidential contest was barred from the ballot today by election authorities who said tens of thousands of signatures on his nominating petitions were faked.

The denial of registration to former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov will likely fuel criticism of the March 2 election as undemocratic and stage-managed by the Kremlin.

Opinion polls gave Mr Kasyanov little chance of posing a significant challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, in the presidential election. However, he could have been an embarrassment for Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev because of his harsh criticism of the Kremlin.

Mr Kasyanov’s spokeswoman, Yelena Dikun, denounced the election officials’ decision as politically motivated. “The authorities are afraid of a strong competitor, they are afraid that he would speak out and tell the truth,” Ms Dikun said.

The Central Election Commission ruled that Mr Kasyanov, a liberal politician who was running as an independent, should be kept off the ballot because more than 13% of signatures in two large samples that were checked were counterfeit.

Commission member Elvira Yermakova told the commission that more than 80,000 signatures were found to be bogus during the check. She also pointed to other flaws in Mr Kasyanov’s documents submitted for registration.

“We made this decision based on the norms of law,” Ms Yermakova said.

Presidential aspirants not affiliated with political parties must submit two million signatures supporting their bid to get on the ballot. Mr Kasyanov’s campaign said it turned in 2,067,000 signatures.

The election officials’ check left Mr Kasyanov with less than two million valid signatures. By law, registration can also be denied if more than 5% of an aspirant’s signatures are found to be invalid.

The Prosecutor General’s office has begun a forgery case against the campaign of Mr Kasyanov, who was Mr Putin’s first prime minister but became a critic after his dismissal in 2004.

Nikolai Konkin, the secretary of the Central Election Commission, told reporters that it could ask prosecutors to investigate more evidence of alleged forgery in the campaign. If found guilty, Mr Kasyanov and members of his campaign staff could face prison terms of up to five years, he said.

Mr Kasyanov has rejected the election officials’ claim about forged signatures as “simple propaganda”. He said earlier this week that if he were kept off the ballot, Mr Putin would be to blame. “It’s not up to the Central Election Commission, it’s up to Vladimir Putin,” he said.

Mr Medvedev faces no strong challengers, and other liberal Mr Putin foes who sought to mount campaigns, including chess great Garry Kasparov, have accused the Kremlin of forcing them out of the race.

Mr Medvedev’s approval ratings soared after Mr Putin named him as his preferred successor last month, boosted by positive coverage by national television stations, all controlled by the Kremlin. The latest opinion poll, released this week by the Levada Centre, had about 80% of respondents saying they would vote for Mr Medvedev.

Along with Mr Medvedev, three others have been cleared for the race: Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov, flamboyant ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Andrei Bogdanov, the obscure leader of a little-known party. Mr Zhirinovsky and Mr Bogdanov are widely seen as acting at the Kremlin’s behest.

Mr Zyuganov has complained of unfair coverage of his campaign by the state-run media and threatened to withdraw – a move that would embarrass the Kremlin by adding to the impression of a one-horse race.

In an apparent attempt to cajole Mr Zyuganov and create an impression of a more balanced race, state television stations periodically included him in their newscasts over the past week.