* Candidates need local official/lawmaker support to run
* Opponents say this shuts out opposition contenders
* When president, Putin scrapped elections of regional
leaders
By Steve Gutterman
MOSCOW, April 25 (Reuters) – Russian lawmakers approved
legislation on Wednesday that will revive elections of regional
leaders, but Kremlin opponents said the bill will give
President-elect Vladimir Putin and his allies too much power
over who is allowed to run.
Putin abolished elections of provincial leaders as part of
what critics called a rollback of democracy during his 2000-2008
presidency, appointing them instead to give him greater control
over far-flung corners of the world’s biggest country.
Restoring regional elections is part of a bid to please
Russians fed up with their lack of political power and appease
foes who staged the biggest opposition protests of Putin’s
12-year rule in recent months.
But the bill, passed by a narrow margin in the lower house
of parliament where the ruling United Russia party has a slim
majority, requires candidates to have support from local
legislators or government officials to run.
It also allows the president to hold “consultations” with
potential candidates or parties proposing them if he wishes – a
detail opposition politician Boris Nemtsov said was tantamount
to giving Putin control over who gets on the ballot.
“There’s nothing left of governors’ elections but horns and
hooves. The name remains, but there will be no real elections,”
Nemstov, a protest organiser and ex-deputy prime minister, said
by telephone.
“It’s clear that the opposition will not be let into these
elections,” he said, calling the requirements “insurmountable”
for much of the opposition because of United Russia’s dominance
of politics nationwide, despite declining popular support.
Putin, who has been prime minister since 2008 but is seen as
the senior partner in a tandem with President Dmitry Medvedev,
returns to the nation’s top office for a six-year term on May 7
after winning a presidential vote in March.
He has called for political forces to bury their differences
after tens of thousands of people attended protests sparked by
anger over alleged fraud in the December parliamentary election,
but opponents say his concessions fall short.
“Putin’s aim is not to restore competition, debates and
rival programmes, it is to hold onto power at all costs,”
Nemtsov said.
The turnout at protests fell after Putin’s presidential
victory, but opponents are planning new demonstrations before
his inauguration, and are focusing on local elections and causes
in a bid to chip away at Putin’s power.
The bill is expected to win approval from the upper house,
after which it would go to the president to be signed into law.
(Additional reporting by Nastassia Astrasheuskaya; Editing by
Tim Pearce)
