Billionaire presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov said on Tuesday he would not launch attacks against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, the frontrunner in the March 4 presidential election, unless the two men end up facing off in a second round runoff.
Prokhorov said he is currently vying to win over voters from the three other candidates in the race: moderate social democratic leader Sergei Mironov, populist firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky and communist leader Gennady Zyuganov.
“I'm better off working on Zyuganov, Zhirinovsky and Mironov, taking their votes. Attacking Putin will be more efficient during the runoff,” the tycoon said in an online interview with Gazeta.ru.
Prokhorov calls Zyuganov, Zhirinovsky and Mironov “elders” and claims they do not have the moral right to take part in the nationwide pro-democracy protests.
The politician pledged to switch over to ‘a brand new ideology’ in the second round.
Putin has been in power for 12 years rule, including eight as president and four as prime minister. “In my view, it’s time to give way to the young. That’s what I’d surely ask,” Putin said.
Prokhorov, whose fortune is estimated at $18 billion, said he spent 67 million rubles ($2.2 million) from his 400-million-ruble budget to collect 2 million signatures needed to register as a presidential candidate.
