| Moscow region Governor Boris Gromov is poised to run virtually
unchallenged in his re-election bid, with no major political party planning
to field a rival candidate.
The Dec. 7 gubernatorial vote will coincide with State Duma elections,
and some potential contenders to Gromov said they would rather focus on
the Duma.
Official registration of candidates in the gubernatorial race has yet
to begin, and only Gromov has publicly announced an interest in running.
The influential region, which encircles the capital but does not include
it, is larger than Denmark or Switzerland with 47,000 square kilometers.
It prides itself for being home to one-fifth of Russian scientific establishments
and for its attractive investment climate.
In 2002, regional budget revenues grew 18.5 percent year on year to
61 billion rubles, a third of which came from industry, according to the
regional administration. Foreign investment nearly doubled from the previous
year to reach $700 million, including nearly $600 million in direct investment,
while gross regional product grew 7 percent, or three percentage points
above the national average.
Duma Speaker Gennady Seleznyov, who narrowly lost to Gromov in the January
2000 gubernatorial vote, is expected to focus on the performance of his
Rebirth of Russia party in parliamentary elections this time around, said
his spokesman, Sergei Kostornoi. Rebirth of Russia is running in a bloc
with the Party of Life headed by Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov.
Seleznyov has not publicly expressed any interest in the gubernatorial
race "and he has shown none in backstage conversations," Kostornoi
said Thursday.
The Union of Right Forces, or SPS, will not field a candidate, said
the head of the party's Moscow region branch, Boris Nadezhdin. "We
support Gromov," he said. "We made big efforts to help him become
governor ... and our cooperation with his administration has been quite
successful."
In any case, SPS does not have a candidate who could present a serious
challenge, he added.
The liberal Yabloko party is also considering backing Gromov. "We
are not going to field our own candidate, that's absolutely for sure,"
party spokeswoman Natalya Mirza said.
Pro-Kremlin United Russia is also expected to back the incumbent, although
party leaders would not commit themselves Thursday.
"This is too premature. Everybody is very busy with the congress
that will take place Saturday," party spokeswoman Tatyana Marchenko
said.
Even the Communists are considering backing Gromov "as one of the
possibilities," said the deputy chief of its Moscow region branch,
Konstantin Cheremisov. "Most likely, we will not field our own candidate,"
he said. "But we will give our support to one of the candidates."
He would not specify who, beside Gromov, the party might back.
Only the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia said it
might field a candidate.
"We need to take part in elections at all levels, but the main
task is certainly the parliamentary vote," said Sergei Soldatov,
head of the LDPR's Moscow region branch.
See also:
the original at
www.themoscowtimes.com
Regional Elections
2003
| 