Putin goes into elections independently

moscow - Vladimir Putin participates in the Russian presidential elections in March as an independent politician. He confirmed this Thursday in a TV program where he answers questions from citizens every year.

The 65-year-old Putin has a party that supports him, United Russia (VR), but he would like to stand above the parties as a father figure. VR is a political party that received around 55 percent of the votes in the parliamentary elections last year. In opinion polls, 80 percent of those questioned are behind Putin who has been in power for seventeen years.

Other people or movements only play a marginal role. The largest parties besides VR are the Communist Party, the center-left Righteous Russia and ultra-nationalists who call themselves Liberal Democratic Party.

Putin reproached his opponents on Thursday in the political arena that they blow a lot, but little wool. He said he wanted to strive for a balanced political system, but in the forthcoming elections he does not see a serious challenger who would stand in the way of his fourth term as president.