“We have not yet made a final decision about the socalled “presidential filter” in elections of governors, Premier Putin said in a conference in Kislovodsk this week.
The Premier consequently signaled a conflicting view with President Dmitry Medvedev, who last week signed a bill opening for direct governors elections.
As previously reported, Medvedev on 16th January sent the bill to the State Duma. The bill proposes to give political parties the right to nominate candidates for regional governors. The parties will have to engage in “consultations” with the president, who subsequently will choose who in his opinion is the preferable candidate. However, the parties will not have to follow the advice from the president and are free to nominate their own candidate.
In addition, independent candidates that want to run for the governor’s office without being linked to a political party can do so, but need to collect a certain numbers of signatures. It is for the regional Duma to specify the numbers of signatures needed.
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In his speech, Putin did highlight the importance of introducing a system which makes the regional leaders more responsible for regional developments and which puts them in a closer relation with the regional populations. However, he at the same time stressed that “there is not made a final decision” about the issue, and indicated that a system of a so-called “presidential filter” should be preserved.
“How should we develop this mechanism? Lets think together, after all this future law is a law on joint action, joint responsibilities between the federal center and the region”, Putin said. “This is one of the very important elements in the construction of our political system”, he added.
Putin´s speech in Kislovodsk, a famous spa town in the souther region of Stavropol, touched on a wide range of issues, but was first of all was devoted to inter-etchnic relations and the situation in the North Caucasus. It followed up on issues highlighted by Putin in his article published in the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta the same day.
