Kasyanov blames Putin for ouster from election

Moscow: The most outspoken opposition politician vying for the Russian presidency was thrown out of the race on Sunday, accused by elections officials of forging tens of thousands of signatures.

The disqualification of former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov was immediately decried by opposition figures and analysts, who said the decision was a politically motivated attempt to silence a vocal government critic and maintain an image of uncontested Kremlin popularity.

Russia's Central Elections Commission accused Kasyanov's campaign of forging more than 80,000 of the signatures needed to get onto the ballot. It unanimously voted to disqualify him from the race.

Running as an independent, Kasyanov needed to collect a minimum of 2 million signatures to register as a candidate for the presidency.

Charge denied

On Sunday, Kasyanov denied that any forgery had taken place, and he blamed President Vladimir V. Putin of blocking him from the race.

"I have no doubt that Putin personally made the decision not to register my candidacy," he said.

The race for the presidency was widely viewed as a fait accompli when the popular and powerful Putin anointed longtime friend and First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev as his preferred successor. After last month's endorsement, Medvedev signalled that Putin would become prime minister in the new government and began to roam the country to drum up public support.

Despite Kasyanov's claims that he could capture one-quarter of the vote, he wasn't regarded as a serious obstacle to a Medvedev victory. He served as prime minister in the early years of Putin's presidency and emerged as a Kremlin critic only after being fired from the government in 2004.

Still, analysts said, the Kremlin was determined to carry out a smooth transition and was leery of giving a platform to a well-spoken candidate who was apt to make sharp criticisms.

"They think that Medvedev should be inevitable, unavoidable," said Stanislav Belkovsky, a Moscow-based analyst with the National Strategy Institute. "The presence of such a person as Kasyanov would seed some doubt in the minds of the constituents, and that's something the Kremlin can't afford."