Criminals in government

While politicians state that they will not allow criminals to rule the country, criminals become officials and law-makers in Russian regions, "Novie Izvestia” write. 
According to the public opinion poll results published on 7 August, 76% per cent of Russians believe that there are criminals in the governments of their regions. Many Russians think that only criminals can make order in their towns and cities.

The poll conducted by Public Opinion Foundation, 63 percent of Russians believe that abundance of criminals in local governments is a widely spread trend.  45% of Russians believe that there are more criminals in governments now than it was in 1990s, while 14% believe that criminals have always been in power, and their number in power ranks is the same as it used to be. Only 10% per cent of Russians believe that more obstacles for criminals getting to power, have been set, and the number of criminals in governments was reduced.

Secretary of the Federal Board of SPS Party Boris Nadezhdin said to the Novie Izvestia that there are no governors and officials of higher rank who are from criminal environment. Mr. Nadezhdin said that all candidates for high government positions are checked in the police, and when the information on candidate’s affiliation with criminals is revealed, the candidate is immediately dismissed. 

At the same time, there are more criminals in legislature in the regions of Russia as it used to be, said Mr. Nadezhdin. "I am not going to call names, but there is a mayor with rich criminal biography in Moscow region. In the beginning of 1990s he made money by racketeering sellers of used cars, in mid-90s he invested his money in a legal business and became a respectable businessman. In the end of 1990s he became quite a respectable city mayor”.

The public opinion poll was conducted in 100 towns and cities of 44 Russian regions.