RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Jan. 29, 2008
TODAY: Gorbachev criticizes Putin and electoral system. Russia to limit foreign election monitors. Mogilevich to be charged this week. Russia unveils new military uniform. Following the rejection of Mikhail Kasyanov as a presidential candidate, Mikhail Gorbachev, the former and final leader of the Soviet Union, has criticized the state of Russia’s electoral system and called for extensive reforms to a system that has secured power for President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin’s inner circle. “Something is wrong with our elections, and our electoral system needs a major adjustment,” he said. Russia is to limit foreign monitors at its presidential election in March to half the number that observed the last presidential poll in 2004. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or OSCE, will be restricted to just 70 observers, less than a quarter of its quota in 2004. Democratic candidate Andrei Bogdanov says he hopes to win as much as 25% of the vote.