Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said in a radio interview Saturday that if he were Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, he would leave politics.<br/> (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) FORMER SOVIET PRESIDENT MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, SAYING:<br/> "I know Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin personally), and I helped him a lot during the first period of his work. Here and abroad. So I spoke a lot on these issues and supported him. He deserved it then. But afterwards, things started to happen that we couldn't counter."<br/> Gorbachev said the Putin era, which began in 1999 has run its course.<br/> (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) FORMER SOVIET PRESIDENT MIKHAIL GORBACHEV, SAYING:<br/> "There were three terms: two terms as president, one as prime minister. Three terms. It's enough. It's enough because circles and clans are created around him. There's so much to root out."<br/> Gorbachev made the comments on the same day that tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Moscow to demand a rerun of the the disputed Dec. 4 State Duma poll in which Putin's ruling United Russia won a slight majority of the seats. Russian and Western election critics have said even the slim margin of victory was a result of election irregularities.<br/> The popularity of the former KGB spy, who has remained Russia's paramount leader, has dropped since he and President Dmitry Medvedev announced plans in September to swap jobs next year.<br/> Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
