NEWS,03.11.2012

President Barack Obama

As the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, aged 51, passed a revamp of the national healthcare system and authorised the raid that killed Osama bin Laden but struggled to revive the economy and create jobs.Ahead of the US presidential election on Tuesday, here are key facts about Obama, the nation's first black president.Barack Obama has a personal background like no other president in US history. His mother, Ann Dunham, was a white woman from Kansas and his father, Barack Obama Snr, was a black Kenyan who saw little of his son after a divorce when the boy was a toddler. Obama spent much of his childhood in Indonesia and then Hawaii, where he lived with his maternal grandparents.Obama struggled with his mixed racial background while growing up, writing in a memoir that he wondered "if something was wrong with me". He also was troubled by the absence of his father, who he considered a "myth", and said that may have contributed to him using marijuana and cocaine in his youth.Obama graduated from New York's Columbia University in 1983 and then worked in the business sector in New York and for a Chicago community group. In 1988 he went to Harvard Law School, where he became the first black president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review.Obama's relationship with Congress is not great. Even when Democrats controlled the House of Representatives and the Senate, Republicans often stymied his initiatives. The situation became more difficult when tax-averse Republicans took over in the House in 2010.In the early 1990s Obama worked in a voter registration campaign in Chicago, taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago and joined a law firm that specialised in civil rights and neighbourhood development. He married Michelle Robinson, who he met at a law firm when he was an intern and she was assigned to be his adviser.In his rare spare moments, the lanky Obama pursues his lifelong love of basketball with semi-regular games at an FBI gym. He also makes time for school functions and sports events of daughters Sasha and Malia and tries to get out for an occasional "date night" with his wife.Obama's political career began with election to the Illinois State Senate in 1996 and soared in 2004 when he gave a rousing keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. In November of that year he was elected to the US Senate.Obama won the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination by defeating Hilary Clinton, the former first lady and New York senator, and then took the presidency by beating Republican Senator John McCain. His energetic campaign was built on a theme of "hope and change" fuelled by powerful oratory.A mood of national optimism prevailed at Obama's 20 January 2009, inauguration, which drew an estimated 1.8 million people to the National Mall in Washington despite bitter cold. He began his presidency with a 68% approval rating.Obama simultaneously oversaw wars in Iraq, which he ended in 2011, and Afghanistan, as well as the US military involvement in Libya that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi. In May 2011 he authorised the raid in which US Navy Seals killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan - a triumph he points to as indicative of a strong national security policy.Obama inherited an economic crisis so persistent that it remains a threat to his re-election. Almost 800 000 jobs were lost the month he took over. In the early days of his administration, he pushed through an $831bn economic stimulus package and renewed loans to automakers, even making the government a temporary part-owner of General Motors.The centrepiece of his domestic agenda was the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare reform law better known as Obamacare. Its purpose is to give all Americans affordable insurance and more protections but critics say it is expensive federal interference. A key aspect of the reform requiring most Americans to get insurance or pay a penalty survived a 2012 US Supreme Court challenge.Obama has a reputation as a charming communicator but he also is criticised for being aloof and not building better relationships with congressional leaders. Some have questioned his preparation skills, especially after a sub-par performance in a presidential debate with Republican opponent Mitt Romney.

Romney, Obama power into final weekend

President Barack Obama and Republican foe Mitt Romney on Saturday power into a final weekend of campaigning before handing their fates to voters after a bitter, gruelling White House race.The rivals will chase one another through the battleground states that will decide Tuesday's election, with Obama seeking to solidify his midwestern line of defence, while Romney seeks an eleventh hour breakthrough.Obama will campaign in Ohio, the possible tipping point state, before heading to Wisconsin and Iowa, his trio of "firewall" battlegrounds ahead of a late night rally in Virginia, where he still hopes for an insurance win.Romney, fresh from the biggest rally of his campaign, which drew around 18 000 people on a cold night in West Chester, Ohio, on Friday will travel to New Hampshire, Iowa and Colorado.In a show of close combat on the last weekend of the campaign, both candidates will be in the eastern Iowa town of Dubuque, within hours of one another.Romney warmed up for the frenzied last weekend with a huge rally in Ohio, bringing together his former primary rivals Rick Santorum and Rick Perry, along with Obama's 2008 rival John McCain.In all, 45 lawmakers and relatives of the candidate and running mate Paul Ryan wearing Romney jackets attended the rally near the Republican stronghold of Cincinnati."We're almost home. One final push will get us there," Romney said before a crowd police estimated to be at least 18 000 strong. "We are so very, very close. The door to a brighter future is there, it's open, it's waiting for us."Obama had earlier evaded a last-minute time bomb as the economy pumped out more jobs than expected in October, delivering a boost to his re-election hopes as the final weekend of campaigning begins.Romney, however, seized on an uptick in the jobless rate by a tenth of a point to 7.9% to bemoan an economy at a "virtual standstill".After several weeks of polls suggesting a neck-and-neck race, there were new signs that Obama's position, as he seeks a second term, may be solidifying.National polls of the popular vote now mostly show a tied race or with either man up one point but with time running out Obama's position in key battleground states seems to be holding.The candidate that wins the White House will need to mass 270 electoral votes on the state-by-state map.Obama is asking voters for a second term, despite the sluggish economic recovery, while Romney is seeking a quick comeback for Republicans after George W Bush left office in 2009 with the party in disarray.All Obama's polling leads were within the margin of error, however, and both campaigns, though expressing confidence, will face a nervous night as results roll in on Tuesday and test their assumptions about the race.Obama, perhaps mindful of millions of Americans suffering from the lingering impact of the worst recession since the 1930s, avoided a triumphal tone on the jobs data that sent relief rippling through his campaign team."We have made real progress," Obama said, in Hilliard, on the first stop of a day-long swing through small towns in Ohio, which could be a tipping point state in a tied-up election.Romney highlighted the fact that, although the economy is creating jobs at a moderate pace, unemployment remains at historically high levels."For four years, President Obama's policies have crushed America's middle class," Romney said in a statement."When I'm president, I'm going to make real changes that lead to a real recovery, so that the next four years are better than the last," said Romney, who started his day in Wisconsin and ended it in Ohio.The release of the final major economic data before the election had worried Obama aides who feared that a leap in the rate above the psychological 8% mark could have sent late-deciding voters to Romney.But although the data was far from spectacular - with 171 000 jobs created last month - there was enough in the report, including upward revisions of previous monthly figures, for Obama to argue the economy was improving.Obama, campaigning in Ohio on Friday repudiated Romney's claim to being an agent of change, accusing him instead of trying to "massage the facts", highlighting a Romney ad that claims that Chrysler plans to outsource jobs to China to produce its Jeep vehicles."I know we are close to an election, but this isn't a game. These are people's jobs. These are people's lives," Obama said, noting that auto bosses had directly contradicted Romney on the attack.The president repeatedly touts his decision to bail out indebted US automakers in a politically unpopular 2009 move that helped restore the industry to health.One in eight jobs in Ohio are linked to the sector, and Romney's opposition to the bailout has emerged as a liability for the Republican.A CNN/Opinion Research poll showed Obama up three points in Ohio, raising his average in the RealClearPolitics aggregate of opinion surveys in the state to 2.4 points.The president also leads Romney in enough of the eight or so swing states to assure himself of the 270 electoral votes needed for re-election, if polling data is confirmed by voting.

Romney hits Obama on 'revenge' vow

Republican nominee Mitt Romney chided President Barack Obama on Saturday for calling on Americans to vote for "revenge" as the battle for the White House raced to an ill-tempered climax.Three days before voters chose between giving Obama a second term or sending him packing back to Chicago, the rivals chased one another through a handful of states that will decide Tuesday's too-close-to-call election.Romney was up early in New Hampshire, which has only four of the 270 electoral votes needed to claim the White House but could punch above its weight in a tight finish, accusing Obama of "demonising" political foes."I won't represent just one party, I'll represent one nation," Romney told a crowd at an airport rally outside Portsmouth, and warned Obama would find it impossible to work with congressional Republicans if he wins re-election.Romney also debuted a new political ad on Saturday, seizing on Obama's comment in Ohio on Friday when he told supporters angry at the Republicans not to boo but to vote, saying "voting's the best revenge".The ad featured Romney telling his biggest crowd of the campaign in Ohio also Friday that Obama "asked his supporters to vote for revenge - for revenge"."Instead, I ask the American people to vote for love of country," Romney said.While Romney was campaigning, Obama was back in Washington visiting the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as New York and New Jersey struggle to deal with the aftermath of murderous superstorm Sandy."We still have a long way to go," said Obama, stressing he had no time for government "red tape" which could hold up the relief effort, after discussing the crisis with the governors of New Jersey, Connecticut and New York.The Obama campaign enjoys the comparison between Obama doing his job managing the government while Romney campaigns as polls show a majority of Americans approve of the president's handling of Sandy.With time running down until the election, Obama soon headed back to the campaign trail, with a long day of campaign stops planned in Ohio, the possible tipping point state before heading to Wisconsin and Iowa.He will wrap up his day with a late night rally in Virginia, a state where he and Romney are locked in a tight race.Romney, fresh from the biggest rally of his campaign, which drew at least 18 000 people on a cold night in West Chester, Ohio, left New Hampshire for trips to Colorado and Iowa.In a show of close combat on the last weekend of the campaign, both candidates will be in the eastern Iowa town of Dubuque, within hours of one another.Latest polls show Obama and Romney tied nationally, but Obama appears to be solidifying his position in enough of the eight or so swing states that will decide the election to support his hopes of a second term.New surveys by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News Saturday showed the president up by 47-49% in Florida and leading Romney by 51-45 % n Ohio, double the margin in the current RealClearPolitics average.A Mason Dixon poll for the Miami Herald, however, had Romney up by six points in Florida, which the Republican, who also needs Ohio, cannot afford to lose if he is to be elected America's 45th president.The Obama and Romney campaigns have sharply differing views of the race.The president's team believe that early voting and polling data, plus the president's grass roots turnout machine, mean that Obama will prevail in a close race.But Romney's camp believes opinion polls are overstating the proportion of Democrats in the electorate and that their candidate is poised to ride the support of independent voters to victory on Tuesday.On Friday, Obama earlier evaded a last-minute time bomb as the economy pumped out more jobs than expected in October.Romney, however, seized on an uptick in the jobless rate by a tenth of a point to 7.9% to bemoan an economy at a "virtual standstill".Obama, campaigning in Ohio Friday repudiated Romney's claim to being an agent of change, accusing him instead of trying to "massage the facts", highlighting a Romney ad that claims that Chrysler plans to outsource jobs to China to produce its Jeep vehicles."I know we are close to an election, but this isn't a game. These are people's jobs. These are people's lives," Obama said, noting that auto bosses had directly contradicted Romney on the attack.The president repeatedly touts his decision to bail out indebted US automakers in a politically unpopular 2009 move that helped restore the industry to health.One in eight jobs in Ohio are linked to the sector, and Romney's opposition to the bailout has emerged as a liability for the Republican.

NEWS,26.06.2012

British economy in the 'middle of a deep crisis'

 

Britain's economic outlook has worsened markedly in the space of just six weeks due to the deepening euro zone crisis and signs that a global slowdown is taking root in the United States and emerging markets, the Bank of England said today.BoE Governor Mervyn King told legislators the world is not yet halfway through the financial crisis that began in 2008, and that Britain risked a downward spiral as businesses continue to put off investment due to the turmoil in the euro zone.His comments bolster expectations that the BoE will launch a new round of asset purchases next month under its quantitative easing programme, and suggested the central bank and British government may need to come up with further measures.Evoking the depression-ridden 1930s, King said it would be difficult to overcome the hit to confidence from the "black cloud" of uncertainty with consumer and business spending alone."We are in the middle of a deep crisis, with enormous challenges to put our own banking system right and challenges for the rest of the world that they are struggling with," King told parliament's Treasury Committee.Britain's economy slipped into its second recession since the start of the financial crisis around the turn of the year and fears of a longer slump have been rising as companies hold back investment and exports suffer from the euro zone crisis.The government and BoE announced two schemes on June 14 to get credit flowing through the economy, but finance minister George Osborne remains under pressure to increase spending to jump-start growth.Osborne announced on Tuesday that he would cancel a planned rise in fuel duty, providing some relief for hard-pressed consumers and businesses.An unexpected leap in borrowing in May, however, highlighted the constraints for the government, which has pledged to erase a budget deficit still at around 8 percent of GDP.Speaking two days before a European Union summit at which measures to spur growth will be a focus, King called on euro zone countries to finally accept that some of the huge debt pile will never be paid back."I am pessimistic (about the euro zone outlook). I am particularly concerned because over two years now we have seen the situation in the euro area get worse and the problem being pushed down the road," King said."In the last six weeks ... I am very struck by how much has changed since we produced our May Inflation Report," he added.Global worries Earlier this month, the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted 5-4 against buying more government bonds with newly created money to boost the economy.King was one of those favouring buying another 50 billion pounds of gilts, to take the total to 375 billion pounds."The remarks of Sir Mervyn King and other MPC members are pretty grim, and fan belief that the Bank of England is likely to pull the Quantitative Easing lever again in July," said IHS Global Insight economist Howard Archer.Policymakers Ben Broadbent and Spencer Dale who both voted against more stimulus in June and David Miles all identified the euro zone debt crisis as the main threat to Britain's economy in their annual reports to parliament.Chief economist Dale said he thought easing credit costs might be a better option to help the economy, while Broadbent also said he would take new schemes designed to do so into account when deciding how to vote next month.The new 'funding for lending' scheme - designed to lower banks' funding costs in return for more lending to companies and households by allowing them to swap illiquid assets for more liquid ones should be up and running within weeks, King said.Lasting damage? Britain has not recovered from the 2008/2009 slump, which left many Britons worse off. Now, fears are rising that a prolonged recession will do lasting damage to the economy."What has particularly concerned me in the last several months - why I have voted for more easing policy was my concern about the worsening I see in the position in Asia and other emerging markets," King said."And my colleagues in the United States are more concerned than they were at the beginning of the year about what is happening to the American economy," he added.The central bank governor remained adamant that QE cash injections could still stimulate the economy."We haven't run out of road in terms of our basic policy weapon, asset purchases, and we are prepared to use that if necessary," King said.But he agreed with the view of the Bank for International Settlements - published in its annual report on Sunday - that ultra-low interest rates pose dangers in the long run, and said monetary policy alone would not end the crisis.

 

'Mr Euro' named Greek finance minister

 

Yannis Stournaras, a well-respected liberal economist, was appointed Greece's new finance minister today after the sudden resignation of the first choice for the job at a crucial moment for the debt-laden country.The new conservative-led government scrambled to make a quick decision on the post after banker Vassilis Rapanos quit yesterday on the advice of doctors after spending four days in hospital with dizziness and abdominal pains.His sudden resignation threw the government into confusion at a time when it faces the daunting task of trying to persuade sceptical international lenders to ease the harsh terms of a bailout that has enraged the population.With Greece weeks away from running out of cash and in desperate need of a minister to lead negotiations with lenders, party officials said the three ruling coalition leaders quickly agreed on Samaras's choice of Stournaras, 55, who is nicknamed "Mr Euro" in Greece.He faces a difficult juggling act pushing for more time and money from sceptical foreign lenders while coaxing reluctan officials at home to push through unpopular reforms."Stournaras is a serious, respected person who will inspire some confidence in the markets.But he is entering a bad government, where many old-style, spendthrift politicians are occupying key positions," said political analyst John Loulis."He will have to wage a hard battle against them. He is entering the wolf's lair and he won't survive without the prime minister's solid support."The Samaras government has been in place less than a week but already looks accident prone after deputy Shipping Minister George Vernikos also resigned yesterdayHe had been attacked by the media and opposition for using offshore companies.Ministers are banned from using such companies, which are a common tactic by wealthy Greeks to avoid taxes.Stournaras is an economics professor at the University of Athens and the head of the influential IOBE think-tank. Most recently he was development minister in the caretaker government that led Greece to elections on June 17.Described by colleagues as affable, he is considered an ardent supporter of structural reforms to make the economy more competitive - ideas that are likely to win him favour with international lenders exasperated with the slow pace of reform.

NEWS,15.06.2012.

Euro zone won't let Greece go easily - economist

 

If Greece leaves the euro zone it could send a signal to other struggling European economies they are better off leaving too economists says. As Greece heads to the polls this weekend, the world waits to see which way the population votes on austerity measures.But University economist Professor Christoph Schumacher says Greece is too big to fail.He that on top of the 1 trillion euros it will cost the region in the event of a Greek exit, it will send the wrong message to other struggling euro zone economies."Imagine Greece doing well leaving the euro zone - that would send the message to countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy that if we devalue our currency and boost our economy, I believe Greece might send the signal of the end of the euro," he said.Schumacher said he does not think the euro zone will allow Greece to leave easily.He said the people of Europe want to be united and will not let someone go just because they are struggling."But the solution with the austerity measures at the moment may not be the right way to go because it will not give Greece the chance to recover," Schumacher said.He has said so far austerity has not helped the Greek economy.According to Schumacher, in the past two years Greece's GDP has fallen by 20%, its unemployment has risen to 24%, and for people under 25 years old the unemployment rate is over 50%.And if it does leave, "the whole world will feel it", according to the economist."They already see the effects right The Official Cash Rate, said it is "monitoring Europe closely" and if things seriously deteriorated, would re-introduce liquidity facilities it made available during the global financial crisis.Schumacher said even if the socialist party wins the election, austerity measures will be challenged but they may not necessarily leave the euro zone.The mood in Greece Greeks are "pretty amped" about the election this weekend. The leaders of the pro and anti-austerity parties are holding rally."I guess it's really the last hurrah to fire up the base and get people to turn out,the event is a "bit of a black box" because no polling has been allowed days out from the election.

UK to flood banking system with 100b pounds

 

The UK government and central bank will flood Britain's banking system with more than 100 billion pounds ($155.43 billion), seeking to pump credit through an economy struggling to escape recession under the "black cloud" of the euro zone crisis.In his annual Mansion House policy speech to London financiers on Thursday, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said Britain would launch a scheme to provide cheap long-term funding to banks to encourage them to lend to businesses and consumers.He also said the bank would activate an emergency liquidity tool.Treasury officials said the government plan could support an estimated 80 billion pounds in new loans, while the central bank's separate scheme will provide monthly 5 billion pound tranches of six-month liquidity to banks.King said the case for pumping more money into the economy via further purchases of government bonds had increased as the outlook for the economy had worsened, although he again rejected calls for the central bank to buy private assets.King said the euro zone's woes were leading to a crisis of confidence in Britain which was leading to a self-reinforcing weaker picture of growth."The black cloud has dampened animal spirits so that businesses and households are battening down the hatches to prepare for the storms ahead," he said.Britain's action comes just before cliffhanger Greek elections this weekend that could determine the fate of the euro zone, as well as a meeting of the leaders of the world's major economies next week to find ways to tackle the currency bloc's crisis and spur the global economy.British finance minister George Osborne warned of the huge dangers from a collapse of the euro area. He again urged euro zone leaders to fix the crisis and said Britain was taking action to protect its own economy."We are not powerless in the face of the euro zone debt storm," Osborne said in his speech at Mansion House. "Together we can deploy new firepower to defend our economy from the crisis on our doorstep."Britain is still reeling from the 2007-2009 financial crisis that has left many Britons poorer and forced the country to bail out big banks with tens of billions of pounds of taxpayers' money.The government on Thursday announced a sweeping reform of bank regulations aimed at making financial institutions safer, and avoiding a re-run of the crisis which has pushed Britain into recession twice in the last four years.Cash boost Britain slid back into recession around the turn of this year, piling pressure on Osborne's embattled Conservative-led coalition government to come up with new ways to boost growth.The government has pinned its fortunes on a tough austerity plan of tax hikes and spending cuts to erase a budget deficit which still comes in at around 8% of GDP.Osborne defended his debt-cutting measures, arguing that they gave the Bank of England the leeway to keep monetary policy loose, and said there was still more the central bank could do.BoE Governor Mervyn King said the central bank would complement its quantitative easing asset purchase scheme with new steps to encourage bank lending and reduce their funding costs, which have rocketed as a result of the euro zone crisis.The BoE and finance ministry have designed a new scheme, to be launched in a few weeks, that would offer banks loans with a maturity of possibly 3-4 years at below current market rates.The loans would be made available on condition that banks increase their lending to businesses and households.In addition, the central bank will activate its Extended Collateral Term Repo facility, created in December, to provide six-month liquidity to banks against a wide range of collateral.King said now was the right time to activate the scheme, which is aimed at helping banks through phases of exceptional stress.King hinted that the central bank may also restart its QE programme, which it halted in May having bought 325 billion pounds of British government bonds, and countered accusations that the scheme had lost its effectiveness."With signs of a deterioration in the outlook, especially in world markets, the case for a further monetary easing is growing," King said.

NEWS,26.03.2012.

Israel sees new advantage in Iron Dome anti-missile system

Israel's newest weapon sits squarely along the border of this southern Israeli town. The Iron Dome, a rocket interception system built by Israel, guards many of the cities that lie within the range of rockets fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. The system, considered among the most advanced in the world, fires a missile to intercept incoming rockets after it gauges whether a rocket will fall in an area where it can cause damage. It is, according to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a "game changer."When violence flared along the Israel-Gaza border earlier this month, the effectiveness of the Iron Dome was tested, and Israeli officials couldn't have been more pleased.Of the approximately 250 rockets and mortars fired at Israel from Gaza, 166 entered Israel's airspace, officials said. Of those, 74 would have struck civilian areas or buildings. The Iron Dome system intercepted 56 before they could land, a success rate of 75 percent. Israeli officials argue, however, that the Iron Dome also identified rockets that were headed for open areas, such as fields, and let them land harmlessly. Factoring those in, Israeli military officials argue that only 18 of the 166 landed anywhere on target, giving the system a success rate of nearly 90 percent.Israeli military officers and politicians said the success of the system gave Israel "diplomatic maneuverability" that it didn't have previously. Israel Defense Forces chief Benny Gantz described the Iron Dome's impact as a "serious and historical military change."Gantz said the ability to protect Israeli population centers from rocket attacks removed one of the key factors that the military had always seen as a limitation on its operations: what the likelihood was of reprisals.Now, Gantz added, the Israeli military can operate relatively undeterred without concern about rocket attacks. The barrage of rockets earlier this month was triggered by the targeted killing in a drone strike of Zuhair al Qaissi, a senior member of the Popular Resistance Committee, an umbrella group that includes militants from various Palestinian factions.Iron Dome is just the beginning, Gantz said. While it focuses on smaller rockets with a relatively short range, such as those from the Gaza Strip, Israel is installing other systems that are intended to stop larger missiles, fired from farther away.David's Sling, a system built in conjunction with the U.S. military, is designed to intercept medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles, such as those possessed by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Another system, the Arrow, also developed with the United States, would intercept ballistic missiles fired from hundreds of miles away.Israeli military officials said they hoped the systems would deter militants from firing rockets."If they know we have the ability to stop their rockets from hitting their targets, they might abandon this method," said one Israel Defense Forces officer, who spoke to reporters recently on the condition of anonymity. "In the long run we can hope for this."Already though, the impact on Israeli residents of the south has been felt. Writing in The Jerusalem Post, military analyst Yaakov Katz said that, "Israel's political leadership is under less pressure from the public that is under the rocket fire. As a result, neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Defense Minister Ehud Barak feel a need to escalate the operation."Meira Cohanim, a 56-year-old resident of Ashkelon, said she felt comforted that the military was trying to intercept missiles from Gaza, even if the system wasn't 100 percent effective."Before, you had this feeling that the rockets were just pounding away," she said. "And they would land wherever they did and your home was hit or it wasn't. Now there is a feeling that something might be changing; we might be protected."Iron Dome, she said, might give the Israel Defense Forces more leeway to operate in Gaza, but she hoped that it wouldn't mean another war."The people in Gaza don't have Iron Dome or even bomb shelters. I know some people here think it's good for us to attack them, but there are innocents and children there, too," she said. "I hope Iron Dome brings peace, not one-sided war."

NEWS,21.02.2012.

Medvedev hosts Russia’s protest leaders

President Dmitry Medvedev hosted leaders of Russia’s protest movement Monday, in a rare move after an outburst of rallies against Vladimir Putin’s likely return to the Kremlin.Medvedev discussed ideas for reforming Russia’s “far from ideal” political system at a meeting that would have been almost unthinkable before mass opposition protests broke out in the aftermath of December parliamentary polls. Leftist radical Sergei Udaltsov, ex-Cabinet Minister Boris Nemtsov and liberal politician Vladimir Ryzhkov – leaders of the movement that organized mass rallies against the authorities – were all present at the meeting.” Our political system is far from ideal and most of those present here subject it to criticism and sometimes very harsh criticism,” Medvedev said at the meeting at his Gorky residence outside Moscow. “There are people here with different political opinions and that is good because we have to understand in what direction our political system will develop,” he said in comments broadcast on state television.Udalstov, Nemtsov and Ryzhkov – whose faces were virtually invisible in state media in the last few years – were shown on state television attending the meeting along with other leaders of unregistered political parties. However state television had not by Monday evening broadcast any of their comments to the Russian president.Nemtsov said ahead of the meeting that he intended to press Medvedev for the release of 37 “political prisoners” and demand constitutional changes barring all presidents from serving three terms. Russian news agencies said that Medvedev discussed his proposals – already submitted to parliament – to bring back elections for regional governors and simplify the procedures for registering parties. However the demands for the protest movement go far beyond this and its leaders have called for the annulment of fraud-tainted Dec. 4 parliamentary election results and far-reaching political reforms.Putin, president from 2000-08, is seeking to reclaim the Kremlin in a March 4 vote after his four-year stint as prime minister. Medvedev would then become prime minister in a job swap vehemently criticized by the opposition. Opinion polls are predicting that Putin will win the election but the opposition has vowed to hold multiple protests afterward to protest his domination of Russian politics. According to a state pollster, Putin will be elected president in the first round of March’s election with more than half the vote, avoiding a run-off that would dent his authority on the eve of his planned return to the Kremlin’s top job.Putin is likely to win 58.6 percent of the vote, far ahead of his closest rival, said Russia’s Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), which has a history of accurately predicting the results of Russian elections.“Putin will gain victory,” the pollster’s general director, Valery Fedorov, told reporters in Moscow. The forecasts were based on a poll of 1,600 people carried out across Russia this month. Second place will go to veteran Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, who is likely to win 14.8 percent, the pollster said. A mood change against Putin among voters in major cities has stoked speculation that the former KGB spy might face the humiliation of winning less than half of the vote, undermining his claims of majority support and triggering a second round.Putin even conceded this month that he may face a second round, though he warned such a step would stoke infighting and undermine Russia’s political stability. But the poll indicates that though Putin is facing the biggest protests of his 12-year rule, his aides believe the former KGB spy can still bring in enough votes to secure another six years as Kremlin chief.Putin’s former chief of staff, Alexander Voloshin, said the latest forecasts for the elections indicated Putin could win 59-61 percent of the vote. The news, he said on Twitter, would make many “sleep more soundly.”VTsIOM forecast that nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky would win 9.4 percent followed by billionaire financial whizz kid Mikhail Prokhorov with 8.7 percent and former upper house Speaker Sergei Mironov with 7.7 percent. Opponents such as Communist leader Zyuganov and blogger Alexei Navalny say that the election will not be legitimate as officials are bound to falsify the results in Putin’s favor.Putin was clearly taken aback by the scale of the protests against the Dec. 4 parliamentary elections, initially dismissing opponents as the pawns of the West and even branding them chattering monkeys. But as the seriousness of the challenge became evident, Russia’s most popular politician changed track, reshuffling his team and approving some planned changes to open up the tightly controlled political system he still dominates. During the parliamentary election, VTsIOM forecast Putin’s United Russia party would win 48.5 percent of the vote.