President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday praised a metals tycoon, whose party backs a second term for the Kremlin chief, and said they had similar views of Russia's future, a sign of support before parliament elections, Reuters reported. Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, 46, who was elected leader of Russia's Right Cause party last Saturday, has supported Medvedev's reelection in a presidential poll next March, in which either Medvedev or Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may run. The presidential vote will be preceded by a parliamentary election, where Prokhorov's party will try to challenge Putin's ruling United Russia party and the Communist Party, the second biggest in Russia. Medvedev, 45, who previously said he could lead a political party in the future, said he supported the ideas of Prokhorov's Right Cause during a meeting with the party leader in his residence in Gorki. "Many of your ideas correlate with mine," Medvedev said. "It is evident that the centralisation of power in any state, even in such a complex federal state as Russia ... cannot last forever." He said that Russia's political and electoral system need reform in order to become less bureaucratic and more efficient. Medvedev, who has styled himself as a champion of democracy, has long criticised the system of top-down rule, carved out by his predecessor Putin, president between 2000 and 2008, who steered him into power upon facing a constitutional ban to serve a third straight term himself. -- SPA
