'Practise what you preach'

2005-05-09 16:04

Washington - The United States should examine its own democratic shortcomings before criticising Moscow, said Russian President Vladimir Putin in a taped interview with the US network CBS.

Putin on "60 Minutes" programme said: "In Russia, the president is elected through the direct vote of the whole population. That might be even more democratic."

By contrast, in the US, voters cast their ballots to "elect the electors and then they vote for the presidential candidates".

Putin, who welcomed President George W Bush in Moscow to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, recalled that Bush's 2000 White House win came after a controversial decision by the US Supreme Court.

"Four years ago, your presidential election was decided by the court. The judicial system was brought into it.

"But, we're not going to poke our noses into your democratic system because that's up to the American people."

Putin said: "Democracy cannot be exported to some other places, but must be a product of internal domestic development in a society."

- AFP