In St. Petersburg, under the guise of the 300th anniversary, the head of the city Central Election Commission was removed. Alexander Garusov could have headed the St. Petersburg CEC until 2004, but the city prosecutor Nikolai Vinnichenko intervened in his fate. The prosecutor suddenly remembered that Garusov had no...

In St. Petersburg, under the guise of the 300th anniversary, the head of the city Central Election Commission was removed

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lexander Garusov could have headed the St. Petersburg CEC until 2004, but the city prosecutor Nikolai Vinnichenko intervened in his fate. The prosecutor suddenly remembered that Garusov did not have a legal education, which is required by the law on guarantees of citizens' electoral rights of 2002, and asked the commission to dismiss its chairman.

Garusov headed the commission before the adoption of this law, and the law has no retroactive effect, which was confirmed by commenting on Vinnichenko's plans, the chairman of the federal CEC, Alexander Veshnyakov. At the same time, he noted that if the work of the commission suits him in principle, then "there are complaints" against its leadership. The members of the commission understood Alexander Albertovich and voted for the removal of their chairman.

Rumors that Garusov would be removed appeared immediately after his return from the Central Election Commission in Moscow, where he went with a report. In addition to the report, the Kremlin's plans to persuade Governor Yakovlev to resign and hold early elections were also discussed.

The change of the governor and his team also implies control over other local elections, and perhaps Garusov was considered too loyal to Yakovlev.

“Garusov had little control over the situation with the December elections to the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, and this frightened not only the governor and his entourage, but also future candidates for the post of head of the executive branch,” said Vladimir Barkanov, deputy of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly.

Wouldn't it be easier then to transfer the functions of the election commission to governors or plenipotentiaries?