RUSSIAN POLLS ON MARCH 2
Russia will go to polls on March two next year to elect its new president for a four-year term to replace incumbent Vladimir Putin, who would be completing two successive terms and cannot seek re-election.
The date for the regular presidential polls was formally announced on Monday by the chairman of the Federation Council, Sergei Mironov as per the Constitutional norms.
The upper house unanimously voted for holding election on first Sunday of March 2008 as the second Sunday set for the presidential polls falls immediately after the March 8 holiday on International Women's Day.
The formal announcement of the election has cleared the ground for kick-starting the presidential campaign.
Fans and foes of President Putin are taking their election campaign to the Internet, battling for votes on blogs and websites -- a measure seen as freedom from the constraints imposed on Russia's broadcast media.
Putin's allies are also trying to woo Russia's young urbanites who have been surfing the net for years and are frequent guests to the blogosphere.
Meanwhile, Putin was due to meet voters later today in his hometown Saint Petersburg, the former Russian imperial capital, on a campaign trip ahead of parliamentary polls slated for Sunday.
The Russian leader was to meet youth activists from the dominant United Russia party in his home city, Kremlin officials said.
The date for the regular presidential polls was formally announced on Monday by the chairman of the Federation Council, Sergei Mironov as per the Constitutional norms.
The upper house unanimously voted for holding election on first Sunday of March 2008 as the second Sunday set for the presidential polls falls immediately after the March 8 holiday on International Women's Day.
The formal announcement of the election has cleared the ground for kick-starting the presidential campaign.
Fans and foes of President Putin are taking their election campaign to the Internet, battling for votes on blogs and websites -- a measure seen as freedom from the constraints imposed on Russia's broadcast media.
Putin's allies are also trying to woo Russia's young urbanites who have been surfing the net for years and are frequent guests to the blogosphere.
Meanwhile, Putin was due to meet voters later today in his hometown Saint Petersburg, the former Russian imperial capital, on a campaign trip ahead of parliamentary polls slated for Sunday.
The Russian leader was to meet youth activists from the dominant United Russia party in his home city, Kremlin officials said.
