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Vote for me or face disintegration: Putin

* Accuses opposition of wanting ‘dependency’

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Thursday told Russians to vote for him in parliamentary elections on Sunday or face the country’s “disintegration,” while also appearing to confirm he would step down next year.

Urging voters to back the United Russia party, Putin warned that the liberal opposition which governed Russia after the 1991 Soviet collapse, wanted to “return to a time of humiliation, dependency and disintegration.”

“We should not allow back into power the people who... want to change and muddle Russia’s development plans,” he said.

“It is a dangerous illusion to think that everything is predetermined, that the rate of development and our progress toward success will automatically be preserved.” United Russia is forecast to win more than two thirds of seats in the State Duma, while the tiny liberal parties are not expected to win a single seat. Putin, 55, heads United Russia’s electoral list, although as president he cannot actually take a Duma seat.

The television address had been closely watched for any sign of Putin’s plans after he completes his second term. He is meant to step down next year.

The only hint he gave was to say “the result of the parliamentary elections will, without a doubt, set the tone for the elections for a new president.” That appeared to confirm that Putin will not seek to override a constitutional ban on seeking a third consecutive term in the March 2 presidential vote.

Putin has repeatedly said he intends to retain a major role, prompting speculation that he might hang on to power, or at least retain influence through a handpicked successor.

Controversy over the fairness of Sunday’s polls was growing amid what Kremlin opponents describe as a crackdown aimed at ensuring a landslide for United Russia. Garry Kasparov, the chess legend turned bitter Putin opponent, was to be released after being jailed for five days for public disorder during a banned protest march in Moscow on Saturday. afp

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