The Russian government under Vladimir Putin has amassed so much central authority that the power-grab may undermine Moscow's commitment to democracy, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said."In any country, if you don't have countervailing institutions, the power of any one president is problematic for democratic development," Rice told reporters yesterday after meeting with human-rights activists."I think there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. I have told the Russians that. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary. There are clearly questions about the independence of the electronic media and there are, I think, questions about the strength of the Duma," said Rice, referring to the Russian parliament.Telephone messages left with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov were not immediately returned yesterday evening.The top American diplomat encouraged the activists to build institutions of democracy. These would help combat arbitrary state power amid increasing pressure from the Kremlin, she said.The US is concerned about the centralisation of power and democratic backsliding ahead of Russia's legislative and presidential elections in December and March. Putin will step down next year as president. He has said he would lead the ticket of the main pro-Kremlin party in the parliamentary elections and could take the prime minister's job later.Rice sought opinions and assessments of the situation from eight prominent rights leaders."I talked to people about the coming months and how they see the coming months. How these two elections are carried out will have an effect on whether Russia is making the next step on toward democracy," Rice said after the private sessions at Spaso House, the residence of the US ambassador in Moscow.
