Ex-chess world champ Kasparov to contest Russian presidential polls

Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, the driving force behind a Russian opposition campaign to remove President Vladimir Putin from office, was last night selected to be its presidential candidate.

London, Oct.1 : Former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, the driving force behind a Russian opposition campaign to remove President Vladimir Putin from office, was last night selected to be its presidential candidate.

According to The Telegraph, Kasparov received 379 out of 498 votes cast at a National Congress held in Moscow.

The Russia's presidential election in which Mr Putin is constitutionally barred from standing, will take place in March 2008.

Kasparov's place on the ballot, however, is not guaranteed as his candidacy still needs to be registered and is likely to be blocked. ven if allowed to run, Kasparov would not pose a major challenge to Putin's candidate.

"I will do everything possible for the ideas of Other Russia to win. This will work only if we stay united," Kasparov said.

The coalition was founded by Kasparov, 44, who has become one of the president's most outspoken critics since he turned to politics in 2005 after a chess career that marked him as one of the game's greats.

Other Russia also chose Mr Kasparov to be one of three candidates to head its list in parliamentary elections in December. The others are the former Central Bank chairman Viktor Gerashchenko and Eduard Limonov, a provocative writer who heads the banned National Bolshevik Party.

The coalition, however, has virtually no chance of participating in the election for the Duma, the lower house of parliament.

Only registered parties can take part, and none of the political movements that make up the Other Russia qualified.

ANI