Kasparov Enters Russian Presidential Race
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MOSCOW — A former world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, entered Russia’s presidential race yesterday, elected overwhelmingly as the candidate for the country’s beleaguered opposition coalition.
Mr. Kasparov has been a driving force behind the coalition, which has united liberals, leftists, and nationalists in opposition to President Putin. He received 379 of 498 votes at a national congress held in Moscow by the Other Russia coalition, a coalition spokeswoman, Lyudmila Mamina, told the Associated Press.
Mr. Kasparov’s place on the March ballot was not assured. His candidacy still needs to be registered and is likely to be blocked.
Even if he were allowed to run, Mr. Kasparov would not be expected to pose a major challenge to whichever candidate wins Mr. Putin’s backing.
Mr. Kasparov was followed in yesterday’s voting by Sergei Gulyayev, a former member of St. Petersburg’s Legislative Assembly, who received 59 votes, and a former prime minister, Mikhail Kasyanov with 18, Ms. Mamina said. The coalition was choosing among six candidates who had won regional primaries in recent months.
The Other Russia also chose Mr. Kasparov to be one of three candidates to head the coalition’s list in parliamentary elections in December. The others are former Central Bank chairman Viktor Gerashchenko and Eduard Limonov, a provocative writer who heads the banned National Bolshevik Party.
The coalition, however, has virtually no chance of participating in the election for the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament. Only registered political parties can take part and none of the political movements that make up the Other Russia qualify.
State Duma seats are distributed among parties according to the percentage of the vote they receive.
In putting forward its candidates yesterday, the Other Russia got a jump on United Russia, the main pro-Kremlin party, which opens its two-day congress today. United Russia also is expected to pick its “troika” of candidates to head the party list.
Moscow’s mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, a leading party member, said yesterday that Mr. Putin could be considered for the top spot.
