Anybody know anything about Russian politics?

Question

I understand there's a presidential election in 11 months. Will/Can Putin run again? Have any other candidates announced? Is there a chance Putin will find a way to stop the election?

Answer 1

The Russian Presidential election of 2008, scheduled to be held on 9 March 2008, is widely expected to be a three-horse race between the official Kremlin-backed candidate, the candidate of the left-wing forces and the nominee of the liberal opposition.

Incumbent President Vladimir Putin, who is barred by the Russian Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term, is expected to back one of the current Deputy Prime Ministers, Sergei Ivanov or Dmitry Medvedev. On February 1, 2007, Putin announced that he would not nominate a successor up front, but would back a candidate after the campaign had begun.

The Communist Party will likely nominate its leader, Gennady Zyuganov, who had already run for President in 1996 and 2000, but not in 2004. Potential liberal candidates include former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, the leader of Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.

A number of candidates have officially declared their intention to run for President in 2008. These are:

former Prime Minister and current leader of the "Popular Democratic Union" Mikhail Kasyanov
ultra-nationalist vice-chairman of the State Duma Vladimir Zhirinovsky
former Speaker of the Duma Gennadiy Seleznyov
the Mayor of Arkhangelsk Alexander Donskoi
Some Russian nationalists, such as the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, have said they would like Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko to become President in 2008, a move which is not possible under the Russian constitution.