Amid the razzmatazz of an Americanstyle election rally yesterday, President Putin accused the West of plotting a campaign of dirty tricks to destabilise Russia.

He told thousands of flag-waving supporters that opponents of United Russia, his party, were in the pay of foreign governments determined to weaken and divide the country at parliamentary elections on December 2.

The President, apparently fearful of the “colour” revolutions that swept away the regimes in Georgia and Ukraine after rigged elections, said that Russia faced a conspiracy to trigger similar mass demonstrations.

“Regrettably, there are those inside the country who count on support of foreign funds and governments and not their own people,” he said. “They have learnt from Western experts and have received some training in neighbouring republics. And now they are going to stage provocations here.”

He dismissed the opposition as “jackals” who “slink through foreign embassies” for assistance. He claimed that other parties were filled with people who had brought Russia to ruin in the “oligarchic” 1990s.

Opinion polls predict that United Russia will get two thirds of the vote and only the Communist Party among opponents is certain to gain the 7 per cent support needed to win seats.

United Russia has turned the election into a referendum on Mr Putin’s popularity, however, amid continued speculation that the Kremlin is searching for ways to allow him a third term as President. Mr Putin has insisted that he will respect the Constitution, which limits a president to two consecutive terms.

Sergei Mironov, who as Speaker of the Senate is the third-most senior politician in Russia, said yesterday that Mr Putin could sidestep the constitutional ban by resigning before his second term expires. A caretaker president would serve until presidential elections in March, when Mr Putin would be free to stand again.

Mr Putin is genuinely popular with many Russians for achieving stability and presiding over eight years of economic growth. Opposition parties complain that the Putin juggernaut is aided by blanket coverage on state-controlled television that makes it impossible for them to win support.

Grigori Yavlinsky, leader of the liberal Yabloko party, which is not expected to win seats, said that the elections would lead to “a semi-dictatorial state that aspires to become a system in which Putin becomes president for life”.

An opposition parliamentary candidate was shot and seriously wounded yesterday as he entered his house in the southern region of Dagestan. Farid Babayev heads the Yabloko party’s regional list.

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