MOSCOW, March 4 (RIA Novosti) – Billionaire presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov, who came in third place in Russia’s presidential race according to preliminary results, said he did not consider the elections fair and vowed to run for the presidency again, “and not just once.”
“I do not consider them [the elections] fair, but I have accepted this challenge," Prokhorov, who was the only independent candidate in Sunday’s elections, said in an interview with state-run television Channel One.
“I deliberately agreed to play by somebody else's rules,” he said, adding that he decided to run for the presidency because he wanted to express his views and consolidate “socially active citizens and thinking people.”
Critics have suggested Prokhorov’s presidential bid was promoted by the Kremlin in an attempt to split the opposition vote.
With some 26 percent of the ballots counted in Sunday’s vote, Prokhorov, had gained some 7.3 percent of the vote. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is leading the race with about 63.2 percent, followed by Communist leader Zennady Zyuganov with some 17.3 percent.
Nationalist Liberal Democratic Party head Vladimir Zhirinovsky and A Just Russia leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky got 7.2 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively.
Prokhorov said he would reject an official post if offered one by Putin.
“I will not accept any post anyway,” he said in an interview with state-run television Channel One, adding he planned to create a “political party to struggle for power.”
