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Thursday, January 24, 2008

Ex-Prime Minister Disqualified from Presidential Race

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's Central Election Commission said on Thursday it had grounds to disqualify former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov from running as an independent in a March presidential election, news agencies reported.

Kasyanov was Putin's first prime minister but became a Kremlin critic after losing his job in 2004.

"The number of valid signatures (in support of Kasyanov) is less than two million, which is grounds for refusing the candidate's registration for the post of Russian president," said Commission secretary Nikolai Konkin, according to TASS news agency.

...

All independent candidates who want to run as candidates for the March 2 election must provide at least two million signatures in support of their bid. No more than 50,000 names may come from any one of Russia's 85 regions.

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From this article we can learn more about the requirements for getting a political office in Russia. Most people would find it a hard task to get over two million signatures with limited numbers per regions. This can almost be seen as a way Russia keeps new people from getting into power. This control will keep drastic changes from happening, and this has probably also helped Putin maintain his position.

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