Russian Party To Name Presidential Candidate

Yabloko's Grigory Yavlinsky (file photo) (RFE/RL) June 16, 2007 -- Yabloko says it will recommend that its longtime leader Grigory Yavlinsky be nominated to run for president in the country's 2008 elections.

The leading Russian opposition party is due to formally nominate a candidate at its convention in the fall.

His nomination would dampen hopes of fielding a single opposition candidate to confront the ruling party, Unified Russia.

The Russian People's Democratic Union, led by prominent opposition leader and former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, selected Kasyanov to run for president at a congress earlier this month.

(AP, AFP)