As cries of voting fraud in the recent Russian parliamentary elections increase, and voters become more frustrated with the tightly controlled political seat of power, a billionaire industrialist seeks to run in the upcoming presidential election. Mikhail D. Prokhorov, who owns shares in gold mining and other companies in Russia as well as the New Jersey Nets basketball franchise, is set to oppose Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Prokhorov was head of the pro-business party, Just Cause, but was removed when he opposed Kremlin political strategists.
Former finance minister Aleksei L. Kudrin will seek to form a new political party to push for liberal reforms. Kudrin was expelled for his disapproval of Putin’s decision to trade jobs with current President Dimitri Medvedev. The Dec. 4 parliamentary elections in Russia have been widely condemned as fraudulent, and a rally Saturday drew tens of thousands of people in demonstration.
