By Quentin Peel
Mikhail Kasyanov, former Russian prime minister and a possible presidential candidate to succeed Vladimir Putin in 2008, appealed yesterday to leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrial nations to spell out their concerns "firmly and publicly" about the drift away from democracy in Russia.
Speaking at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Mr Kasyanov criticised a series of constitutional changes implemented by Mr Putin that had undermined party politics in Russia and weakened its federal system.
"Virtually all the characteristics of a modern democratic state have disappeared," he said. "The government and parliament cannot function without everyday instruction from the top. The judiciary cannot be said to have any sign of independence. Responsibility at the regional level of power has been totally destroyed by abolishing the direct election of governors."
Mr Kasyanov, who was dismissed by Mr Putin in February 2004 after four years as prime minister, called on the other members of the G8 to "treat Russia as a normal democratic state".
"We have the same democratic values in our constitution," he said in a separate interview with the FT.
"But it appears that other G8 members have noticed that implementation of those values (in Russia) appears to be completely different (to the other members). St Petersburg would be exactly the right place to say that, in a normal diplomatic manner."
"Every month another new barrier appears to stop people stepping into political life," he said. Amendments had been made to the electoral law, making it more difficult to establish opposition parties.
Minimum party membership had been increased from 10,000 to 50,000, and the minimum proportion of votes needed to win seats in the Duma raised from 5 to 7 per cent. Direct election of constituency MPs, which allowed some independents into the Duma, has been abolished.
The former prime minister said his own political organisation, the People's Democratic Union, had suffered police harassment after holding a legal rally in Moscow last week.
He warned that Mr Putin might order a clampdown on Russian non-governmental organisations - "officially labelled as foreign spies" - as soon as the St Petersburg summit was over.
"In the regions they feel more freedom," he said. "In Moscow people are more scared in identifying themselves. There is already a system very similar to what we had in the former Soviet Union where the whole administrative system does not allow people to criticise it."
Mr Kasyanov also criticised Mr Putin's government for restricting foreign investment, undermining private property rights, and presiding over an increase in corruption.
He called for a reform of Gazprom, the state-controlled gas producer and supplier, to separate its ownership of pipelines from its gas production.
"It is a state within a state," he said.
