MOSCOW, September 25 (RIA Novosti) - The former world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, has won the second round of the Other Russia primaries in his bid to gain the opposition coalition's nomination for the 2008 presidential elections.
Kasparov, 44, who leads the United Civic Front (UCF), a movement that vehemently opposes President Vladimir Putin, received 66 out of a possible 113 votes Monday in the Moscow primary, defeating his main rival, ex-premier Mikhail Kasyanov.
A total of eight prominent opposition figures, including former Central Bank chairman Viktor Gerashchenko, and Vladimir Ryzhkov, an independent member of parliament, have announced their plans to run for the presidency.
The final decision on a single presidential candidate will be taken at an Other Russia session at the end of September.
