Kudrin envisions peaceful ‘transformation’ of Russia.

Ria Novosti - Former finance minister Alexei Kudrin expressed sympathy Saturday with protesters angry over recent elections and called for non-violent but sweeping “transformation” of Russian politics and society.

Kudrin, in an article published in the respected daily Kommersant just hours ahead of a planned mass demonstration in Moscow, spoke directly to the protesters, saying: “I share your negative emotions about the results of parliamentary elections in our country."

“I believe in the possibilities of successful realization of a scenario for the calm, non-violent transformation of our political system and the entire state. Dynamic, but non revolutionary. Where the quality of the transition is more important than its speed,” Kudrin wrote.

The widely-respected former finance minister, who resigned his post earlier this year after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he planned to swap jobs with President Dmitry Medvedev, said the March presidential election should serve as a litmus test for the country’s political transformation.

“Proof of this can and should be the future presidential election – acceptance by society of its result,” Kudrin said, adding that Putin, who recently proposed installing live webcam monitors in every polling station in Russia, was prepared for this kind of test.

“He is ready for it” Kudrin said.

The former minister, who has been lauded at home and abroad for steering the Russian economy successfully through rocky economic shoals over the past decade, asserted that the country’s leadership needed to engage in real dialogue with its critics in society.

“The leadership heard something” following a mass demonstration on December 10 – the largest protest in Russia in nearly two decades – by citizens angry over allegations that parliamentary elections earlier in the month were riddled with cheating.

“But it still does not want to discuss it; and it still regards the demonstrators as ‘foam’ if not ‘provocateurs’,” Kudrin asserted. “So, the authorities are still going to have to ‘talk’ about it. I think that their readiness to do this is growing steadily.”

Tens of thousands of people have pledged through various internet social networks to attend the rally scheduled for Saturday.

The protesters have issued a variety of demands including a rerun of the parliamentary elections and the sacking of Russia’s top election official. Putin, Medvedev and other top officials have said report of vote fraud would be investigated and infractions punished. They have however given no quarter on calls for a repeat of the election.