Prokhorov set to become ‘Main Anti-Putin’ candidate

Billionaire presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov has set himself the task of becoming the major figure and choice for those Russians who do not want to vote for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during the elections on March 4. Prokhorov previously criticized Putin’s United Russia party, but never matched himself against its leader and declared that he would not build his campaign on that basis. Mikhail Prokhorov expects to gain from 15 to 20 percent of the vote in the election and to go into a runoff against Vladimir Putin. “I think this is a realistic figure from 15 to 20 percent in the first round. The main thing is to get in the second round with him [Putin]. Now everything depends on us,” Prokhorov said during a meeting with businessmen in Novosibirsk in Siberia. “My task in this election is to become the main Anti-Putin,” Prokhorov wrote on his Twitter page. Prokhorov said that it is quite likely that there will be a runoff after the March 4 election. The billionaire said does not believe the polls that predict everything will be decided in the first round. Prokhorov believes that the main task is to make the March elections fair. According to him, fair elections can be ensured if all polling stations are manned with observers. “We need to gather volunteers for this,” he said. The billionaire is one of five presidential campaign hopefuls and the only independent candidate. The four other registered candidates are current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, moderate social democratic leader Sergei Mironov, populist firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky and communist leader Gennady Zyuganov.