Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov said he plans to challenge Vladimir Putin in the March presidential elections, a longshot bid that could tap into growing dissatisfaction with the Kremlin after a wave of antigovernment demonstrations.
Opposition leaders immediately denounced Mr. Prokhorov's plan as a Kremlin-inspired effort to drain support for the protests, which arose after reports of massive fraud in the Dec. 4 parliamentary election and have grown into the most serious challenge to Mr. Putin's control in his 12-year rule.
Mr. Prokhorov, whose previous political project was first backed and then derailed by the Kremlin, denied he had coordinated his presidential bid with Mr. Putin or other top officials. State television, which typically gives little coverage to opposition figures, led its 6 p.m. newscast with Mr. Prokhorov's announcement, highlighting his assertion that he was doing it without high-level blessing.
One of the young oligarchs who made his fortune in the controversial privatizations of the 1990s, Mr. Prokhorov, 46 years old, faces very long odds with Russia's left-leaning electorate, political analysts said. Known for his taste for lavish parties and beautiful women, the unmarried Mr. Prokhorov used to run a major Russian metals company and now owns the New Jersey Nets. (A National Basketball Association spokesman in the U.S. said Mr. Prokhorov's political career won't affect his NBA holdings.)
"My base is the middle class," Mr. Prokhorov told a news conference. "But that's not just businessmen." He accused existing political parties of engaging in "cheap populism" and said he would release his platform in a few weeks. His immediate challenge will be to collect the two million signatures he needs to get on the ballot. They are due in mid-January.
Facing a familiar group of mostly communist, socialist and nationalist candidates, Mr. Putin appears virtually certain to win the Mar. 4 election. But doubts about the depth of his support grew after the parliamentary vote. Despite what was alleged to be widespread fraud on its behalf, the ruling United Russia party saw its results drop sharply, barely holding on to its majority in parliament. Tens of thousands of protestors—many of them young members of Russia's new urban middle class—took to the streets in major cities over the past week to protest the alleged vote-rigging, the largest antigovernment protests in at least a decade.
In recent days, the Kremlin has softened its initial harsh crackdown on the demonstrations, allowing the protests to go off without arrests and lifting a virtual blackout of coverage of them on state television.
Government officials have cited them as evidence of the openness of the Russian political system, though the authorities have shown no sign of willingness to accept the protestors' demands for new elections. Opposition leaders vow to continue the demonstrations until their demands are met and have set another protest for Dec. 24. They fear the Kremlin is trying to sap their support and wait them out.
"Prokhorov's task is to accumulate protest voters and help Putin get elected," Boris Nemtsov, an opposition leader and Prokhorov friend, told the Interfax news agency. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, who also is running for president, echoed that view.
Mr. Prokhorov's last political foray started out with the blessing of the Kremlin. Encouraged by President Dmitry Medvedev, Mr. Prokhorov earlier this year took over Right Cause, a prominent liberal party that had failed in recent years to win seats in parliament. Despite heavy advertising and media coverage, he struggled to get his poll ratings out of the single digits and by late summer had fallen afoul of the Kremlin over policy and personnel differences. He was ousted as party chief in September.
At the time, he angrily denounced Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin's powerful domestic-policy chief, as a "puppet-master" and vowed to push for his removal. But until Monday, he had kept a low profile since losing the party post.
"As you remember, the Kremlin kicked me and my supporters out of Right Cause, and we weren't able to do what we wanted," Mr. Prokhorov said. "It's not my habit to stop halfway."
Despite the bravado, Mr. Prokhorov's latest ambitions seem at least partly in line with the Kremlin's plans. Last week, Mr. Surkov said that Russia needed a liberal party to represent the views of what he called the "annoyed urban communities." Early Monday, former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said he would help set up a liberal party, something he said was urgently needed. He and Mr. Prokhorov said they had discussed the issues but that their efforts were for the moment separate. Mr. Prokhorov said he would set up a new party after the election.
Mr. Prokhorov also said he would limit criticism of the ruling United Russia party in his campaign, promising to offer "10% criticism, and 90% solutions." "I'm totally against revolution," he said. "All revolutions in Russia have been bloody. I'm for evolution."
When asked if he feared sharing the fate of former Yukos Oil chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who has seen his company broken up and is currently serving prison time after challenging Mr. Putin, Mr. Prokhorov said: "I did not do anything illegal and have nothing to be afraid of."
Mr. Prokhorov, who owns stakes in OAO Polyus Gold and United Co. Rusal PLC, said there is no basis for denying parole to Mr. Khodorkovsky.
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Is the same man who has been investigated for fraud in the past?
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