Kremlin foe barred from Russian election

By Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Former Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov was barred on Sunday from running for president in a March election, a move he said was taken to block any real challenge to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin's chosen candidate.

The Election Commission's decision seemed certain to stir fresh criticism by Kremlin opponents that the March 2 vote has been slanted in favour of Dmitry Medvedev, 42, the first deputy prime minister who Putin has backed to be his successor.

Kasyanov, who had little chance of winning the election, said Russia under Putin was now on "the slippery slope towards thievish totalitarianism" and urged a boycott of the vote.

"The authorities were afraid of an open battle," Kasyanov told reporters in southern Moscow.

"I call on citizens not to vote, not to take part in this farce," he said. "The authorities are scared of the people and so they prevented me from running."

The Commission voted unanimously to refuse to register Kasyanov, 50, because it said hundreds of thousands of the signatures he had to submit in support of his candidacy were either forged, incorrect or spoiled.

Kasyanov denied so many signatures were invalid and said Putin had personally made the decision to bar him from election.

The election will be closely monitored by the United States and the European Union after international observers said last year's parliamentary vote was skewed by interference from the authorities. Kremlin officials say they want a fair vote.