Putin attacked for poll 'mockery'

By Nikolai Gorshkov
BBC, Moscow

The pro-Putin United Russia party is likely to be a clear winner

The leaders of right- and left-wing Russian political parties have accused President Putin of making a mockery of the 7 December parliamentary elections.

The Union of Right Forces (SPS) and the Communist Party say the elections will be neither free nor fair.

The Communists are warning they may challenge the legality of the polls.

And in an unprecedented attack, SPS leader Boris Nemtsov told the BBC he blames the president for what he calls Russia's slide into ultra-nationalism.

The next parliament, or Duma, will be dominated by bureaucrats and nationalists, Mr Nemtsov says, and it is they who will bring to power an ultra-nationalist president in 2008.

Mr Nemtsov says the Kremlin and the state-controlled media are doing everything to help ultra-nationalists to get into parliament at the expense of the traditional opposition parties.

Nemtsov's SPS may not clear the 5% threshold needed to gain seats

The liberal opposition has failed to overcome internal splits in the run-up to election and is facing the humiliating prospect of losing all of its seats.

And the Communists have seen their voters snatched away by the pro-government and nationalist parties which have hijacked much of their rhetoric.

Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov has issued a public statement saying the sheer scale of manipulation and lies meted out by the state-controlled TV channels puts the Nazi propaganda of Josef Goebbels to shame.

Mr Zyuganov claims the authorities are preparing the widespread falsification of the election results.

He has appealed directly to President Putin, warning him of dire consequences of a rigged election.

If the Communists are not satisfied with the outcome, Mr Zyuganov says, they will challenge the legality of the polls.