Russian President Vladimir Putin said today he would run for a second four-year term in March.
"Yes, I am going to run," he said on national television. Mr Putin (51) was speaking in what has become an annual live, but well-scripted, question-and-answer session with ordinary Russians. The second term would be Mr Putin's last under the Russian constitution.
His popularity ratings are routinely above 70 per cent, boosted by his promise of a more stable and prosperous Russia that emerged from the Soviet Union 12 years ago in near ruin.
Though Mr Putin is almost certain to win the March 14th presidential election, opposition parties yesterday threatened to spoil the occasion by boycotting the vote.
The Communist Party and two small liberal parties performed badly in the December 7th parliamentary elections, which handed a huge victory to pro-Putin parties amid widespread accusations that the Kremlin used state-controlled media and the bureaucracy to ensure its crushing victory.
A Communist Party official was quoted by Russian media as saying a boycott could be used to push election turnout below 50 per cent, rendering the result invalid.