No primaries for Putin - press secretary

There is no need for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to participate in primaries to be nominated for president, his spokesman said on Friday.

Dmitry Peskov dismissed media reports saying United Russia party rules stipulated this particular procedure as being ill-informed.

“A presidential candidate is nominated by a party convention based on a proposal from the Bureau of the Supreme Council subject to approval by the Presidium of the General Council,” Peskov said.

The nomination decision is passed by secret ballot, he added.

In August, Putin proposed compulsory primaries for all parties.

On September 24, President Dmitry Medvedev backed Putin for Russia’s next president at the annual congress of the ruling United Russia party.