MOSCOW — Former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov said today he would not challenge Acting President Vladimir Putin in Russia's March 26 election, leaving Putin's path to the Kremlin virtually unhindered.
Primakov had been seen as a potential key challenger to Putin, whose rating is well ahead of other confirmed candidates, including second-placed Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov.
The former prime minister, whose party was badly mauled by Kremlin-controlled media ahead of December's parliamentary election, said he refused to take part in the presidential fight in a country that had moved away from democracy.
"At the time of the election and when the State Duma (lower house of parliament) started work, I felt how far our society had moved from a civil image and from true democracy," Primakov told RTR television, referring to the campaign against him.
"I do not think the situation can radically change in a few months."
Primakov, 70, has said media coverage dented his bloc's hopes of winning more seats.
His statesmanlike gravitas and old-school experience would have given voters a clear alternative and could have allowed him to drum up enough support to take the election to a second round.
Primakov's popularity was built during his eight months as premier from September 1998 to May 1999 when he was judged to have helped stabilize the country. But his ratings slipped in the wake of Putin's progress.
The popularity of Putin, 47, soared after he was appointed prime minister in August when he was the virtually unknown head of the FSB domestic security agency.
His rating has been built on the pursuit of a successful offensive against Chechen rebels, with his poll ratings barely wavering despite setbacks in the campaign.
His youth also confirmed his image as an energetic leader. Many Russians supported the shock decision of former President Boris Yeltsin to resign and make Putin acting presidentNew Year's Eve.
Putin displayed his mettle against the more ponderous Primakov in December's Duma election.
It was thanks to Putin's backing that the pro-government Unity party dented the outcome for Primakov's Fatherland-All Russia bloc.
Unity was only two months old at the time and included politicians far less well known than many in the opposing bloc.
Primakov's running mate in Fatherland-All Russia, ambitious Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, has also said he will not stand for president despite once being viewed as a prime candidate.
The removal of both men has prevented the formation of a well-defined bloc to run against Putin.
After Zyuganov in opinion polls come other confirmed candidates—liberal leader Grigory Yavlinsky and flamboyant ultra-nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Although Putin's popularity has remained high throughout the Chechen offensive, a poll at the weekend saw his rating fall for the first time below 50 percent, the level required for him to win the election in a first round.
The poll by the VTsIOM organisation gave Putin a 48 percent rating among 1,600 respondents, a seven-point decline from a poll released the previous week.
Over the last week, Russia has said an increasing number of soldiers died in the battle to seize the Chechen capital Grozny, although the military this week said it killed a large number of Chechen rebels and had virtually seized control of the city.
Zyuganov received 13 percent in the poll, a one-point rise over the previous week, with Primakov in third on six percent. Yavlinsky, leader of the liberal Yabloko party, received four percent and Zhirinovsky three percent.