Gorbi Weighs...

....in.

"Mr. Gorbachev, now an octogenarian, was one of the first Russian political figures to start warning – more than a year ago – that Vladimir Putin's autocratic, top-down Kremlin-centric regime risked repeating many of the errors that led to the downfall of the USSR and could face a mass challenge from the streets if it failed to implement democratic reforms.

Now that protest movement has materialized and Gorbachev, who faced a popular groundswell of opposition in the dying days of the Soviet Union, is advising Mr. Putin to drop his bid for election to a third presidential term in March 4 polls and leave.

With society turning against him, Putin is no longer able to handle the burdens of the presidency, Gorbachev said during a meeting with students at Moscow's International University today."

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""Most likely Putin will manage to become president" in next month's voting, Gorbachev said. The election features a ballot from which most serious challengers have been weeded out. "But if he fails to overcome himself, and the situation in our country fails to change significantly following the presidential election, people will take to the streets again," Gorbachev added."

Strange how international politics unfold. You just never know how things will turn out. And I didn't know there had been protests in the streets of Moscow. You have to wonder why Vlad the Impaler is not interested in coming in from the cold.