Kasparov drops presidential bid

2007-12-12 19:45

Moscow - Russian opposition leader and chess legend Garry Kasparov said on Wednesday he would abandon his uphill presidential bid because of a dirty tricks campaign.

"My electoral campaign finishes tomorrow," the fierce critic of President Vladimir Putin told journalists.

Kasparov said Moscow landlords were mysteriously refusing him access to a hall large enough to fit the 500 people that the law requires to meet for the official launch of a presidential campaign.

"In all Moscow we have not been able to find a hall where our supporters could meet," he said.

Kasparov, considered by many to have been the world's greatest chess player, heads a loose-knit movement opposed to Putin, The Other Russia.

The country holds a presidential election on March 2 after which Putin is to step down, with opposition forces seen as having virtually no chance of victory.

Not a fight for power

A Putin-backed candidate, first deputy premier Dmitry Medvedev, is already being portrayed in the media as president-in-waiting.

Kasparov has accused Putin of crushing democratic opposition through the Kremlin's dominance of the media, tough new election laws, and heavy-handed dispersal of peaceful demonstrations.

"The Other Russia is not fighting for power but for real elections to take place," he said.

On Wednesday he explained that his movement had been simply unable to obtain premises for a meeting officially required for his candidacy to be put forward.

"We pay and the people agree. There are no problems. And then they call us to say they are refusing, can't give us the hall any more," Kasparov said at a gathering of Russian reformist parties and non-governmental organisations.

Election law requires that a candidate who is not nominated by a political party with seats in parliament must get the support of an "initiative group" meeting of at least 500 people.

The commission must be informed of such a meeting at least five days before a December 18 deadline for registering non-party candidates, meaning Thursday would be the last possible day.

Poll a 'farce'

Touring Russia, Kasparov has frequently been refused venues to speak - often for allegedly technical or accidental reasons - and has blamed this on interference by the security services.

He described the December 2 parliamentary election - which set the scene for the presidential poll - as a "farce", citing allegations of vote-rigging and unequal access to the media.

He spent five days in jail last month after a court found him guilty of public order offences at a rally.

- AFP