Arkhangelsk goes to the polls
The number of candidates in this weekends Arkhangelsk city mayors elections is narrowing down as yet another contender today pulled out of the race. With heavy support from the regional governor, the acting mayor is considered favourite to win the vote.
Candidate Petr Orlov today informed the Arkhangelsk city election commission that he withdraws his candidacy. He is the sixth candidate pulling out of the elections. Acting Mayor Viktor Pavlenko is now considered to have further strengthened his chances in the elections, which are held in the wake of the arrest and subsequent dismissal of former mayor Aleksandr Donskoy.
The remaining candidates are now Larisa Bazanova, Aleksandr Grechanyi, Mikhail Kochanov, Viktor Pavlenko, Mikhail Silantiev and Aleksnadr Tutov. The election day is May 25.
Scandals
Several scandals have surrounded the Arkhangelsk elections, which have seen a strong indirect involvement of regional Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk. After the governor lend his support to acting mayor Pavlenko, several of the strongest election candidates pulled out of the race. Among them were regional parliament deputies Sergey Moiseev and Ernest Belokorovin, who in early May had a comfortably lead in election polls. Both men are now offered leading posts in the regional administration.
Arkhangelsk surprise
The road now seems open for the safe win of Mr. Pavlenko. However, some analysts say that a surprise win still is possible. Political commentator Vadim Treskin notes that Mr. Pavlenko did bad in a poll conducted by Foris in late April. Then only 10 percent of respondents said they would vote for the acting mayor.
Arkhangelsk has also earlier made surprise elections. In 2004, Nikolay Kiselyov made a surprise win against sitting Governor Anatoly Yefremov.
Despite the heavy support from the governor’s office, Viktor Pavlenko might not get an easy win. Analyst Treskin believes both Larisa Bazanova and Aleksandr Grechanyi will pose a major challenge to Pavlenko’s political ambitions.
