Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday he would run in the presidential election next March.
Putin made his widely expected announcement during a televised question-and-answer session with the Russian people.
A woman in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar asked about Putin's plans for re-election. Putin said he had planned to make the official announcement within the next few days, but since so many people had expressed interest in questions collected ahead of time, he said his answer was "positive."
"I will be a candidate," Putin said. "In time I will make an official announcement on this."
This is the third time Putin has taken part in the exchange with Russians who send questions over the Internet, call in or are chosen from among groups of people gathered for video linkups between the Kremlin and Russia's far-flung regions.
This year's session comes two weeks after the main pro-Putin party won more than 37 percent of the nationwide vote in elections to the lower parliament house, strengthening the president's control over legislation, and three months before the March 14 vote he is expected to win handily.
The Communists saw their support plunge in the parliamentary vote, and in a crushing defeat for the liberals, the Western-oriented Yabloko and Union of Right Forces fell short of the 5 percent barrier needed to gain seats in the Duma as parties.
On Wednesday, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov said his party was considering boycotting the presidential vote because of alleged fraud in the parliamentary balloting.
Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces said they, too, were thinking about either not fielding candidates or encouraging their supporters not to cast ballots.
Such a boycott would be unlikely to change the results -- Putin consistently enjoys about 70 percent support in polls -- but it could serve as a strong expression of protest that could affect the way the president rules.
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