Garry Kasparov Retires From Chess To Take On Putin
by Joe Pulcinella
Not content to rock the chess world, Grand Master of Grand Masters, Garry Kasparov, will work with Committee 2008 to ensure that Russians will have a choice of presidents in 2008 other than ex-KGB agent, Vlad Putin.
The Moscow Times reports that Kasparov's group sees no hope of challenging President Vladimir Putin in this year's March election and have formed a movement to find a "democratic alternative" in 2008. "We must have guarantees that the elections are a fight between different forces," said Kasparov, the head of the Committee 2008: Free Choice group.
Last December, elections were held in Russia to the Duma, and this year the electorate of the country will again be going to the polls to choose a president. Vladimir Putin, the present leader of the country, is expected to win easily in a campaign that has already been marred by voting discrepancies and allegations of corruption, the themes of which have already been touched upon in this ChessBase report. Recognising that 2004 is too soon to make a difference, Kasparov asserted that in 2008 Russia, "Must have guarantees that the elections are a fight between different forces," in order to ensure that the next president is a “representative of the people�and not just Putin’s heir.”
Maybe when he's done, he can do the same for US voters.