| The second round of gubernatorial elections in the Nenets Okrug may not take place Residents of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO) will have to elect a governor on February 6. According to the results of the first round of elections for the governor of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, held on January 23, former federal inspector for the district, member of United Russia Alexey Barinov, who received about 22%, and deputy of the district legislative assembly Igor Koshin, for whom just over 20% voted, advanced to the second round. voters.
The official candidate of United Russia - General Director of the oil producing company Polar Lights Alexander Shmakov, who was supported by the Presidential Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District Ilya Klebanov, as well as the companies LUKOIL and Rosneft - ended up in fourth place in the first round, losing also to a little-known communist deputy in the district, Leonid Sablin.
In the second round of elections, according to local political scientists, Alexey Barinov will most likely win. Mr. Barinov worked for many years as the general director of the Arkhangelskgeoldobycha company owned by LUKOIL, then he was the chairman of the board of directors of this company. He was perceived as the “representative” of LUKOIL in the region even when he was appointed chief federal inspector.
True, analysts do not rule out that the forces supporting Alexander Shmakov, who lost in the first round, will try to form public opinion in the shortest possible time in support of the appointment of the governor. Let us remind you that according to the new procedure for electing governors, the president himself submits the candidacy of the future head of the region for discussion in the legislative assembly. Residents of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, dissatisfied with the results of the first round of gubernatorial elections, have already begun collecting signatures for an appeal to President Vladimir Putin with a request to appoint a governor without waiting for the second round. The appeal, initiated by a well-known public figure in the district, pensioner Matryona Pakhomova, has already collected about 2 thousand signatures. In total, according to Ms. Pakhomova’s plans, there should be about 10 thousand. Since it will most likely not be possible to collect the required number of signatures before February 6, within one or two weeks the results of the second round, according to analysts, will be challenged under a plausible pretext. And the governor can be appointed by a strong-willed decision of the president.
By the way, some political scientists predicted this outcome of events even before the first round. Since Mr. Shmakov, who entered the political arena of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug literally a few weeks before the elections, never enjoyed much support in the district, few expected that he would be able to reach the second round. The cancellation of the registration of Governor Vladimir Butov, who enjoyed the support of the majority of residents of the district and had excellent chances of winning in the first round, did not add to Mr. Shmakov’s popularity either.
Let us recall that the election of the head of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is the last popular vote of this kind in Russia. Direct elections of governors were introduced by decree of Russian President Boris Yeltsin in September 1995. In September 2004, President Vladimir Putin came up with the idea of a new principle for the formation of regional executive power. On December 12, he signed the law approved by the State Duma and the Federation Council. From now on, governors will be approved by the legislative bodies of the relevant constituent entities of the federation on the proposal of the president of the country. Mikhail SERAPIONOV, Arkhangelsk |
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