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Gorbachev Slams Putin's 'Election Arrogance'


Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev today accused Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of arrogance over their plan to jointly decide who should run in next year's presidential elections.

Medvedev and Putin have both said they will sit down and privately decide which of them should run in elections scheduled for March 2012.

But Gorbachev -- who turns 80 on March 2 and has been using the added media attention to criticize the country's political course -- said such a decision would contradict all democratic norms.

The current and former Russian presidents have not said when they intend to decide which of them should run in 2012.

compiled from agency reports

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