Russia's era of managed democracy is over, claims presidential candidate
A billionaire metals tycoon running for president in Russia's forthcoming election has claimed the era of "managed democracy" embodied by Vladimir Putin is dead.
Writing in the Guardian, Mikhail Prokhorov, 46, said Russia was "undergoing a true awakening" – while warning of a lingering threat of violence as opposition leaders plan a new mass demonstration against the rule of Putin, the prime minister, on 4 February.
"The only question now is will our road be bumpy and perhaps bloody, or will we avoid some of the pitfalls we've seen in our region and in others and pull off a gradual transition before things reach the boiling point," he wrote. "I, for one, am for the latter. Evolution, not revolution."
The comments are likely to provoke a mixture of scorn and sympathy because Prokhorov's candidacy is widely seen as a Kremlin project to leach votes from harsher opponents, whatever his own intentions or democratic leanings.
full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/11/russia-era-managed-democracy-mikhail-prokhorov