Two Kremlin challengers lashed out Monday at the West in the first television debate of Russia's presidential campaign, undermined by the refusal of the main candidate to take part. The debate on world affairs featured ultranationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov and the barely known Andrei Bogdanov.
First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is President Vladimir Putin's chosen successor and the likely winner of the March 2 election, refused to join the half-hour session aired on TV Centre. Zyuganov, whom opinion polls predict will win less than 10 percent of the vote, appealed to his traditional communist supporters with an attack on the United States.
"Americanisation of our way of life is the death of Russia," he said. He also urged stronger links with ex-Soviet Belarus, run by pro-Russian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, "to stop the expansion of Nato." Zhirinovsky, who is likewise polling at under 10 percent, called for an "army that supports only Russian-Slavs."
"We should be proud of our country. The EU, Nato, US and the Arab world want to influence Russia and make us their slaves," he said. Bogdanov stood out with a call for Russia to enter the European Union and also Nato, provided the military alliance excluded the United States. However, Bogdanov is a marginal figure expected to win only a handful of votes.
Medvedev, who also holds the post of chairman in natural gas monopoly Gazprom, is polling at about 82 percent ahead of the election. Meanwhile, two representatives from the election monitoring arm of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) held crisis talks Monday in Moscow with the head of the Central Elections Commission.
The OSCE has criticised Moscow for allowing 70 observers to arrive only three days ahead of the election, saying this does not give enough time to set up a proper mission. A similar dispute in December led to the democracy watchdog boycotting parliamentary elections.