Gubernatorial election campaign starts in the Krasnoyarsk territory

An official start has been given to the campaign on the election for the governor of the Krasnoyarsk Territory (Eastern Siberia). The elections will take place on September 8 this year. As the local Election Commission reported, on the day that the election campaign officially began, all contenders for the post of the governor can start collecting signatures of constituents in support of their candidacies. Each contender must collect at least 20,000 signatures. A final list of the names of those who will be included into voting slips will be issued in August. The size of the election fund of every candidate has changed. It has been increased from 1.5 million roubles to 20 million. This will "save the candidates from violating the law on attracting financial means." So far, only one person has announced its decision to take part in the elections. He is the Speaker of the local parliament Alexander Uss. Nikolai Berdnikov from Kazan, who also expressed his wish to contend for the gubernatorial post and send his documents to Krasnoyarsk for this purpose, was refused to be registered. As the Territorial Election Commission explained, according to the legislation in force, a candidate cannot nominate himself. Despite the place of his residence, his candidature has to be supported only by the inhabitants of the given Territory. The gubernatorial elections in the Krasnoyarsk Territory have been announced in view of the tragic death of governor Alexander Lebed during the aircrash when he was on his business trip.