Advisors urge Medvedev 2012 bid

RUSSIA: The think-thank that advises President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday urged him to run for a second term in 2012 on a platform of modernising Russia that contrasts him from his mentor Vladimir Putin.

The issue of which of Russia’s two leaders will run for president one year from now has remained an open question that attracts almost daily debate.

Both Putin who is widely seen as Russia’s de facto leader despite his official status as prime minister and his presidential successor Medvedev have vowed not to run against each other and decide the issue in private.

But the Institute of Contemporary Development set up by Medvedev when he came to power in 2008 urged the Kremlin chief to come out fighting

AFP