By RIA Novosti
Moscow : An opinion poll has indicated that 69.9 percent of voters intend to vote for Kremlin-backed Dmitry Medvedev in Russia’s March 2 presidential elections, the state-run VTsIOM pollster said Monday.
Currently a first deputy prime minister, Medvedev was publicly backed by Vladimir Putin as his successor in mid-December, and was later nominated by the ruling United Russia party as a presidential candidate.
Given Putin’s popularity, his endorsement of the first deputy premier is likely to guarantee Medvedev the presidency. Putin has also said he would accept the post of prime minister if Medvedev becomes president.
The poll also predicted Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov would come second with 9.1 percent of the vote, and ultra nationalist Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky third with 7.8 percent.
The leader of the tiny pro-Western Democratic Party, Andrei Bogdanov, is forecast to receive just 0.9 percent of the vote.