Communists to field candidate against Putin amid protests

About a thousand protestors gathered in Moscows Bolotnaya square Saturday for a rally against election violations as Russias Communist party prepared to nominate its leader to challenge Vladimir Putin in the presidential polls.The rally, organised by the liberal Yabloko party, which failed to gain seats in the next parliament, was the fourth in a series of protests against what is perceived as a rigged election on December 4.The rally was nowhere near as big as one a week earlier which drew over 50,000 people to the same square in the largest demonstration of protest in Moscow since the early 1990s.Yabloko finished in the elections with only 3.3 percent, falling short of the threshhold required to win seats in the Russian Duma. Putins party United Russia won the polls with 49.5 percent, losing its constitutional majority.People with Yabloko flags and green balloons held signs such as Boycott the pseudo elections and listened to Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky, who is widely expected to become Yablokos presidential candidate.Our goal is to change todays political system, which lies, which is corrupt, and serves the interests of a small group of people, Yavlinsky said.The rally was held against a two-day Communist party congress in Moscow, which is likely to officially nominate its longtime leader Gennady Zyuganov as a candidate in the March presidential polls.The Communist party, a runner-up in the parliamentary polls with 19.16 percent of the vote, has called the vote illegitimate. However Zyuganov has stayed away from most protest rallies, labelling some of the liberal opposition as provocateurs paid for by American oligarchs.The partys nominee is likely to be the main challenger to Vladimir Putin in the march elections, and Putins latest approval rating of 42 percent suggests that he may not cinch the first round of the vote.Prime Minister Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev have both dismissed allegations of mass violations. Medvedev ordered the Duma to meet in its new makeup next Wednesday, while Putin mocked protestors comparing them with anti-AIDS activists.