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Putin calls on Russians to pick the 'right' candidate

Shopkeeper Vladimir Tyshko prepares a portrait of Russian First Deputy Prime Minister and presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev for sale in Moscow on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin urged voters on Friday to turn out for presidential polls and choose a candidate equal to the "complex and large tasks" facing Russia, as pre-election campaigning wrapped up.

The outgoing Russian leader said in a televised message that today's vote was a decisive step in the "renewal of the top governmental authorities."

He urged Russians to vote, echoing the billboard posters plastered by the electoral authorities all over Russian towns and villages calling on people to go to the polling stations.

Putin did not mention Dmitry Medvedev, the candidate he has already endorsed to be his successor as president and the beneficiary of blanket coverage by the state-dominated media.

But he cautioned that "complex and large tasks" lay ahead and asked: "Who will bring to the post of head of state real value for millions of people, for all the citizens of our great homeland?"

"The opinion of each of you is important. I ask you to come to the election ... and vote for our and your future, for Russia's future," Putin said.

Opinion polls have left no doubt that the election in the world's largest country will be won by Medvedev, who is first deputy prime minister and chairman of the Gazprom energy giant.

On Friday, Medvedev visited Russian police headquarters, where he watched officers modelling a new range of police uniforms and promised improvements in pay and pensions, Interfax reported.

Other candidates have received minimal media attention, while Medvedev has been shown holding set piece meetings round the country on the so-called "national projects" he has overseen in the areas of health, education and housing.

Putin has also introduced him to a series of foreign leaders, including Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).

Putin is obliged by the Constitution to stand down but is expected to retain major power, having agreed to serve as Medvedev's prime minister.

On Thursday, the corruption watchdog Transparency International said that between Dec. 1 and Feb. 15, had Medvedev received more coverage in national media than his three rivals combined.

The watchdog said regional governors were pressuring voters to turn out, in order to show their loyalty to the Kremlin.

Today's poll has been boycotted by all but one group of Western election observers, the 25 delegates from PACE, which says alternative choices are "limited at best."
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