Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of the liberal Yabloko party, will be nominated for the Russian presidency in the March 2008 election, the party press service said Saturday.

It said the decision was made by the party Federal Council, which met in the Moscow region.

The Federal Council`s decision is non-binding. Under the party rules, only a party congress may formally nominate a presidential candidate.

President Vladimir Putin, who has been increasingly criticized in the West for his anti-democratic record but who remains popular inside Russia, has repeatedly denied the possibility of his staying in office for a third term, but is widely expected to name his successor, who is likely to win polls in the March 2008 elections.

In early June, the Russian People`s Democratic Union put forward its leader and former prime minister, Mikhail Kasyanov, as a candidate for the 2008 presidential elections.

His party is a member of the Other Russia, an opposition coalition led by chess-champion-turned-politician Garry Kasparov that includes his liberal United Civil Front and the National Bolshevik Party, led by radical writer Eduard Limonov.

In late May, Russia`s opposition nominated Vladimir Bukovsky, 65, who spent a total of 12 years in Soviet prisons, to run for the presidency.

Bukovsky said he doubted he could run in the polls, but that he hoped to consolidate opposition in the country.

The State Duma has passed new registration rules expanding the grounds for election authorities to deny registration to candidates. Opposition parties also complain of few opportunities to appear on TV and in any other mass media in the country ahead of the elections.
sections: Politics