Gorbachev urges Putin not to stray from democracy

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev criticised leaders who stay too long in power, urging Vladimir Putin, who may seek a third term as Russia's president next year, to abide by democratic principles.

Gorbachev, who turned 80 in March, has become an increasingly vocal critic of the hold on power enjoyed by Putin, now prime minister, and President Dmitry Medvedev.

He said long-serving rulers risked becoming ensnared in cronyism and corruption, in an interview published in Britain's New Statesman weekly on Thursday.

"Putin is a capable person, but right now it's very important for him not to stray from the road of democracy," he said.

Gorbachev has previously criticised Putin for depriving Russians of their rights, including the scrapping of voting for individual candidates in parliamentary elections.

Gorbachev said he had introduced reforms to protect the presidency from corruption while at the helm of the Soviet Union between 1985 and 1991. The Soviet Union fell apart in 1991.

"When I became president, fairly soon, as part of our democratic process, we adopted decisions concerning elections that established that any official can work in any position no more than two terms.

"Which meant, basically, from eight to ten years. Because, if it's more, then you get surrounded by corrupt circles and you get into cronyism and all the other things that simply are wrong," he said, speaking through an interpreter.

Putin was president for eight years until 2008, steering Medvedev into the Kremlin as his replacement after being constitutionally barred from a third straight term.

Putin could serve another 12 years as president if he was elected for a six-year term next March, and again in 2018. He has yet to confirm if he will stand.

The full interview, conducted at the end of March, will be available at www.newstatesman.com from June 2.

(Reporting by Tim Castle; Editing by Maria Golovnina)

Reuters, 26.05.2011