MOSCOW, May 20 (UPI) -- A former prime minister has said that unless pro-democratic political forces unite, Russia could revert to "a Soviet system with elements of state capitalism."
Mikhail Kasyanov, addressing a news conference Thursday, said, "The country is going in the wrong direction. Unfortunately the speed of movement in this negative direction is increasing," The Moscow Times reported Friday.
Kasyanov, who now heads his own consulting company, said he is in talks with various political figures to create a united democratic front.
President Vladimir Putin's plan to change the way parliamentary elections are held is one of the greatest dangers to Russian democracy, Kasyanov said. Putin Thursday signed into law a change effectively blocking independent lawmakers without party affiliations from taking office.
Kasyanov, whom Putin abruptly fired a month before the March 2004 presidential elections, also repeated that he may run for president in 2008. He added that his final decision would depend on the support of the people.
"If there is a (public) desire and need for me to do it, I will," he said. "If not, I will find other business for myself. There are plenty of interesting things to do."
