Model election turns messy for pro-Kremlin group

MOSCOW, Aug 1 (Reuters) It was supposed to be a showcase of Russian democracy, but in a twist that may not augur well for next year's presidential vote, an election for the leadership of a staunchly pro-Kremlin youth group turned out to be a sham.

A Russian newspaper reported today that Vasily Yakemenko, head of the Nashi youth group, got members at a summer camp last week to vote for a new leader as he intended to seek a senior government position instead.

Thousands of supporters chose a young activist called Nikita Borovikov to replace him.

But according to Kommersant, citing a source close to the Kremlin, Yakemenko was forced into a U-turn when the Kremlin failed to back his plan, and called the election a ''role-playing game'' rather than a real one.

A spokeswoman for Nashi denied there had been any change of plan, saying the vote was intended as a role-playing exercise from the start.

Nashi, which boasts 100,000 members across Russia, casts the enemies of President Vladimir Putin as fascists and harrassed the British ambassador for several months last year after he addressed a meeting of opposition groups.

''(Yakemenko) went all out by preparing a plan to change the leadership and raise his status,'' Kommersant quoted its source as saying. But the Kremlin ''did not support the plan'' and he had to ''go into reverse,'' the source added.

Asked to comment on the Kommersant report, the Nashi spokeswoman said: ''This is rubbish. We will be taking this up with Kommersant.'' She said the election had been planned as a role-play game from the start, but was presented as a genuine election to make it more realistic. ''Otherwise, it would not have worked as a role-play exercise, would it?'' she said.

Nashi says its aims are to stand up for Russia against ''fascism'', support Putin's policies, and help train a new generation of morally upstanding, politically-active patriots.

Opponents say the Kremlin created Nashi so its activists could be mobilised to counter any mass protests that might take place in the run up to the 2008 presidential election, when Putin must step down.

Putin says the election will be free and fair. His critics say the Kremlin plans to use its huge influence to manipulate the result so that Putin's preferred candidate - whose identity is still unknown - emerges the winner.

REUTERS RN VV1820