In a televised call-in session with the Russian population Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed he will seek reelection for a second presidential term

In a televised call-in session with the Russian population Thursday Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed he will seek reelection for a second presidential term, running as an independent candidate. Well-prepared to answer dozens of questions from all over the country during a carefully orchestrated session broadcast on Russian state television channels and radio stations, Putin spoke for almost three hours. He was concentrated and organized, more or less open and spoke about his family. But unlike during the previous two similar sessions, he did not crack jokes and focused on serious domestic issues. During the live phone-in Putin said he will run for a second term in the presidential elections slated for March 14 as an independent candidate. "I will not represent any political party," he said. "I will be collecting the 2 million signatures (needed to run as an independent)," he added. He criticized some political parties' calls for voters to "boycott" the elections on the grounds that there are no viable alternatives to the current president.