Moscow election under question?

The Moscow City Duma elections have turned out to be questionable: by yesterday evening there were not candidates registered in half of all the city's districts. November 15 was the last day when subscription lists could have been handed in or a pledge could have been made. A pledge seems to be the most sure way, while, if trouble appears with the subscriptions, there will be no time to correct the situation. For example, if subscriptions are declared invalid, there will be no time to pay for a pledge.

However, in districts where for the registration of candidates took place, the situation does not look better: in most of them, only one candidate has been registered. If at least one additional candidate does not appear, the election cannot be carried out: elections without an alternative candidate are forbidden by legislation. More than two candidates were registered only in two districts.

One more interesting detail should be mentioned: most of the acting deputies register themselves with a pledge, while in this year, the necessary sum was increased to 450 thousand rubles (15 thousand dollars). However, officially, the deputies earn about 6 thousand dollars a year. Therefore, to pay the necessary sum, a representative of the people would have to go without food for two and a half years. However, all of them look well-fed and well dressed, and they spend holidays abroad.

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2001/11/14/33819.html