MOSCOW, June 2 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian People's Democratic Union has forwarded its leader and former premier Mikhail Kasyanov as a candidate for the 2008 presidential elections.
Kasyanov, 49, was President Vladimir Putin's first prime minister in 2000-2004 until the president sacked his Cabinet. After falling out with Putin, Kasyanov announced in a news conference he might run for presidency in 2008.
His party is a member of the Other Russian opposition coalition, which also includes chess-champion-turned-politician Garry Kasparov's liberal United Civil Front and radical writer Eduard Limonov's National Bolshevik Party.
The coalition has held a series of rallies to protest what it sees as the Kremlin's backsliding on democracy. It accuses President Putin and his associates of infringing on liberal freedoms and muzzling the opposition.
