Charlene Keeler / 18 Jan 2008 / 04:47 pm / Political Relations
Kasyanov turns over 2 million signatures
Mikhail Kasyanov, one of the seven or so candidates running for the Russian presidency in March, turned in his required 2 million signatures. To complicate the matter, only 50,000 of them could be gotten from Russia’s 85 regions, as well as only having a single month to obtain them. And making matters worse for Kasyanov, the head of his campaign office was under investigation for forging signatures, so Kasyanov may have lost at least 50,000 signatures because of this investigation. This caused concern for the candidate-hopeful who has vowed to stay in the race at all costs.
One quote in this article really struck me. Kasyanov says, “Many contributed their signatures with the feeling that they were preparing for their last battle.”” I suppose to them, this election could mean retention of Putin’s status quo or a great change in politics depending upon who is elected. However, Dmitry Medvedev is the favorite to win the presidency because he has the blessing of Putin, the previous president. This must be worrisome for the other candidates, but with a persistent attitude such as Kasyanov’s, Medvedev may be given a run for his money.
2 comments:
Wow that really had to suck only to have a month to gather all of those signitures. If the people of Russia see this election as the last battle I believe that they should really vote for the candidate that they want to run their nation.
The problem with that is actually making sure that the candidate they want elected will indeed be running in the election. If these signatures don't go through, then there is no chance that Kasyanov will be allowed to even run. If that happens, those supporting him will have to vote for someone else or not vote at all.
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