Russian presidential election, 2008

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The Russian Presidential election of 2008, scheduled to be held on 9 March 2008,^[1] is widely expected to be a three-horse race between the official Kremlin-backed candidate, the candidate of the left-wing forces and the nominee of the liberal opposition.

Incumbent President Vladimir Putin, who is barred by the Russian Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term, is expected to back one of the current Deputy Prime Ministers, Sergei Ivanov or Dmitry Medvedev. The Communist Party will likely nominate its leader, Gennady Zyuganov, who had already run for President in 1996 and 2000. Potential liberal candidates include former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, the leader of Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky and former world chess champion Garry Kasparov.

A number of candidates have officially declared their intention to run for President in 2008. These are: former Prime Minister and current leader of the "Popular Democratic Union" Mikhail Kasyanov, ultra-nationalist Member of Parliament Vladimir Zhirinovsky, former Speaker of Parliament Gennadiy Seleznyov and the Mayor of Arkhangelsk Alexander Donskoi.