Putin concedes he faces real challenge for Russian presidency

RUSSIA’S prime minister Vladimir Putin has admitted he faces a real challenge to win the presidential elections on 4 March.

Mr Putin said he may even face a run-off vote, acknowledging he may fail to muster enough support for an outright victory. His statement suggests willingness to countenance such a challenge rather than suffer more allegations of vote-rigging.

Evidence of fraud in December’s parliamentary elections triggered the biggest protests since the Soviet collapse two decades ago.

Yesterday Mr Putin said at a meeting with election monitors “there is nothing horrible” about a run-off and he was ready for one, Russian news reported. But he also warned of the dangers of a second round, saying it would lead to a “destabilisation”.

Mr Putin won his previous two presidential terms in 2000 and 2004 in the first round. After moving into the PM’s job due to term limits, he has remained overall leader, but has seen his support dwindle. Opinion polls show support for him between 40 and 50 per cent. If he fails to get a majority, he will face a run-off on 25 March, most likely against Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov.

In a sign of the increasing defiance of Mr Putin’s rule, activists hoisted a giant “Putin Go Away” hoarding to the top of a building across the river from the Kremlin yesterday. It took authorities more than an hour to remove it.