Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov says he will challenge Putin in presidential election
Russia to investigate claims of electoral fraud
Tens of thousands of Russians turned out for protests across the country at the weekend.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an investigation into the allegations of fraud in the country's disputed elections earlier this month.
The move comes after the biggest protests in over a decade across Russia, which saw tens of thousands of people gather near the Kremlin and thousands more rally in 50 cities across the country.
The unrest was sparked over widespread allegations of ballot-box stuffing in parliamentary elections held on December 4.
Protesters have demanded the government set a new election date by December 24 and the opposition has called for the chairman of the country's electoral commission to be sacked.
Mr Medvedev is rejecting calls for a new election, keeping a low profile and avoiding appearances on camera since the ballot.
But in an apparent acknowledgement of the protesters' concerns, he announced via Facebook that he will order an investigation into the widespread allegations of vote rigging.
That is not enough for many protesters, who are worried the United Russia party stole the election.
"I think it is inadequate. We support the rally. I'm sure that we were all fooled yet another time with the election," one demonstrator said.
"I'm sure that all the percentages that United Russia received are overstated and the fact that our authorities are opting out of this, it's horrible. But what can we do about it?"
Some demonstrators say they saw vote rigging first hand in the parliamentary vote.
"Almost at once we could identify people who were heading towards polling booths with stacks of voting ballots to put into the ballot box. Naturally I knew these things happened but I didn't expect to see it at my polling station," one witness said.
Putin's power
The protesters are also concerned over prime minister Vladimir Putin's decision to run for the presidency next year.
Mr Putin served as president from 1999 until 2008, but handed over to then prime minister Dmitry Medvedev because the constitution barred him from a third term.
Russian opposition MP Ilya Ponamaryov says Mr Putin always loomed large in the background and the protesters are worried about his return.
"This whole thing started in September when Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev decided to trade places without asking the rest of the population," she said.
"It was that time when people decided that we will come to the polling station and by voting against United Russia, we would express our disapproval of their decision."
Dmitry Oreshkin, an independent political analyst, says the president's call for an investigation may not be enough to satisfy the protesters.
"The public opinion is that everyone understands that there was fraud or a majority understands it," he said.
"In such a situation what the president should have done instead of posting on Facebook is to create a commission to include officials from the polling stations, members of the party structures that were monitoring the election, members of the press and members of social organisations that have a right to monitor the elections and recount the votes. It is not that complicated."
Mr Oreshkin says the president needs to be much more specific about the investigation if he hopes to mollify the protesters.
"He didn't say to whom he gave the order. Did he give orders to a firefighting squad, to an ambulance or maybe to the emergencies ministry?" he said.
"After all, it should have been stated. It is either the prosecutors or it is the investigative committee or is it the Central Elections Commission?
"If it is the elections commission, this means it is investigating itself at a time when people are expressing their mistrust of it. So I think it is an ineffective move.
"I think that the president will receive more critical remarks from the internet community than voices of support."
Tens of thousands of Russians turned out for protests across the country at the weekend.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an investigation into the allegations of fraud in the country's disputed elections earlier this month.
The move comes after the biggest protests in over a decade across Russia, which saw tens of thousands of people gather near the Kremlin and thousands more rally in 50 cities across the country.
The unrest was sparked over widespread allegations of ballot-box stuffing in parliamentary elections held on December 4.
Protesters have demanded the government set a new election date by December 24 and the opposition has called for the chairman of the country's electoral commission to be sacked.
Mr Medvedev is rejecting calls for a new election, keeping a low profile and avoiding appearances on camera since the ballot.
But in an apparent acknowledgement of the protesters' concerns, he announced via Facebook that he will order an investigation into the widespread allegations of vote rigging.
That is not enough for many protesters, who are worried the United Russia party stole the election.
"I think it is inadequate. We support the rally. I'm sure that we were all fooled yet another time with the election," one demonstrator said.
"I'm sure that all the percentages that United Russia received are overstated and the fact that our authorities are opting out of this, it's horrible. But what can we do about it?"
Some demonstrators say they saw vote rigging first hand in the parliamentary vote.
"Almost at once we could identify people who were heading towards polling booths with stacks of voting ballots to put into the ballot box. Naturally I knew these things happened but I didn't expect to see it at my polling station," one witness said.
Putin's power
The protesters are also concerned over prime minister Vladimir Putin's decision to run for the presidency next year.
Mr Putin served as president from 1999 until 2008, but handed over to then prime minister Dmitry Medvedev because the constitution barred him from a third term.
Russian opposition MP Ilya Ponamaryov says Mr Putin always loomed large in the background and the protesters are worried about his return.
"This whole thing started in September when Mr Putin and Mr Medvedev decided to trade places without asking the rest of the population," she said.
"It was that time when people decided that we will come to the polling station and by voting against United Russia, we would express our disapproval of their decision."
Dmitry Oreshkin, an independent political analyst, says the president's call for an investigation may not be enough to satisfy the protesters.
"The public opinion is that everyone understands that there was fraud or a majority understands it," he said.
"In such a situation what the president should have done instead of posting on Facebook is to create a commission to include officials from the polling stations, members of the party structures that were monitoring the election, members of the press and members of social organisations that have a right to monitor the elections and recount the votes. It is not that complicated."
Mr Oreshkin says the president needs to be much more specific about the investigation if he hopes to mollify the protesters.
"He didn't say to whom he gave the order. Did he give orders to a firefighting squad, to an ambulance or maybe to the emergencies ministry?" he said.
"After all, it should have been stated. It is either the prosecutors or it is the investigative committee or is it the Central Elections Commission?
"If it is the elections commission, this means it is investigating itself at a time when people are expressing their mistrust of it. So I think it is an ineffective move.
"I think that the president will receive more critical remarks from the internet community than voices of support."
Supporters of Vladimir Putin's United Russia's party gather at Manezhnaya square, just outside the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, Dec. 12, 2011 to rally in support of the results of the Dec.4 parliamentary election. The pro-Kremlin gathering comes two days after the biggest opposition protests against alleged electoral fraud in favor of the ruling United Russia that took place on December 10 across the country. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
MOSCOW - Mikhail Prokhorov, one of Russia's richest tycoons and the owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, said Monday he will run against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the March presidential election.
Prokhorov has been cautious not to cross Putin's path in the past, but the billionaire may pose a serious challenge to Putin, whose authority has been dented by alleged widespread fraud during Russia's Dec. 4 parliamentary election.
Putin's party only won about 50 per cent of that vote, compared to 64 per cent four years ago, and the fraud allegations have allowed opposition parties to successfully mount massive anti-Putin protests in Russia.
On Sunday, President Dmitry Medvedev promised on his Facebook page that the alleged vote fraud will be investigated. But Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, predicted Monday the probe will show that little vote fraud occurred and that it had no effect on the outcome of the ballot.
"If you take all the cases of these alleged violations or whatever was published online, the total will be less than 1 per cent of the overall number of votes," Peskov told The Associated Press in an interview. "And even hypothetically speaking, if they are all appealed in court, it will in no way affect the legitimacy of the election."
Peskov's comment signalled that Putin — who served as Russia's president in 2000-2008 and only became prime minister because of term limits — is holding firm, despite the protests, which have been the largest here since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. On Saturday tens of thousands of people in Moscow and smaller numbers in more than 60 other cities protested election fraud and called for an end to Putin's rule.
"The society is waking up," Prokhorov said at his news conference in Moscow.
He will have a good chance of appealing to Russia's growing opposition, which includes prosperous middle-class residents, many of whom are angered by Putin's bid to reclaim the presidency.
Asked whether he is going to join another opposition rally planned later this month in Moscow, Prokhorov wouldn't say, but he added that he agrees with many of the anti-Putin slogans that were shouted out during Saturday's protests.
Prokhorov's presidential bid follows his botched performance in the parliamentary race, when he formed a liberal party under tacit support of the Kremlin, then abandoned the project under what he called Kremlin pressure.
He has personally blamed Vladislav Surkov, a presidential deputy chief of staff, for staging a mutiny within the party's ranks. "I will solve that problem by becoming his boss," Prokhorov said Monday when he was asked whether Surkov could pose obstacles to his presidential bid.
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