Russia's Putin too busy to meet election observers

A group of European vote monitors said Saturday they were denied a meeting with Russian strongman Vladimir Putin ahead of next month's presidential elections because of his busy schedule.

The Russian premier is the overwhelming favourite to beat four weak rivals in a March 4 ballot that should hand him a third term as Kremlin chief.

The 59-year-old served as president in 2000-2008 and then as premier for the past four years before deciding to swap jobs with his hand-picked successor Dmitry Medvedev.

But Putin -- a former KGB agent whose domineering style went almost unchallenged until the first street protests against his rule broke out two months ago -- has refused to debate his rivals and already predicted his own victory.

A team of observers from the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) said that Putin's team this week also told them the prime minister was too busy to fit them into his schedule.

"We were informed that a meeting does not fit into Mr. Putin's plans," Interfax quoted mission head Tiny Kox as saying. "We accept that as the answer."

Putin has a history of testy relations with foreign vote monitors and in December accused the US State Department of inciting the rallies that followed that month's contested parliamentary polls.

His spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier in the week told the state RIA Novosti news agency that there was "no such meeting in Putin's schedule."

The PACE team said it met the other four candidates during its stay and recorded several complaints against Putin.

"The candidates who received the delegation were also unhappy that one of the candidates -- the current prime minister -- continues to use his administrative resources," PACE said in reference to Putin's regular appearances on state television.

Putin's team has launched a counter-offensive against the protests after initially appearing to have been caught off guard and uncertain about how to respond to the first public challenge against his authority.

State unions and organisations in recent weeks began busing their members and employees to a weekly series of tightly-choreographed rallies that hail Putin as a national leader who guarantees Russia's sovereignty.

Thousands more came out again across Russia's main provincial towns Saturday despite Arctic chills that sent temperatures plunging to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 degrees Celsius) in some regions of Siberia.

Official news reports said the event in the central Russian region of Kirov was held under the slogan "I Love You Russia!" while the one in the Siberian city of Chita defended "A Strong, Stable and Sovereign Russia."

The biggest pro-Putin rally will be organised in Moscow on February 23 when Russia celebrates Defenders of the Fatherland Day.