Shelkovnikova won the elections with a crushing victory over rival Vladimir Ogienko. According to Hibiny.ru, as many as 73,3 percent of the voters gave their support to the independent candidate.
As previously reported by BarentsObserver, Shelkovnikova won the first election round with 49,75 percent. Her contender Ogienko was the official candidate of the United Russia party.
With the victory of Shelkovnikova, the Pechenga electorate has expressed a clear protest against the power of the United Russia party, as well as the PechengaNikel plant, both of whose candidates failed to match the independent candidate.
The strong support for alternative political forces – both independent candidates and the A Just Russia Party, is reflected also in the local rayon assembly. After last month’s elections, the assembly now has seven members of the United Russia party, six from the A Just Russia Party and three independent politicians.
Losing candidate Vladimir Ogienko himself admits that the mayoral elections have been a protest vote against the current authorities. In an article published in the Pechenga Gazeta, he writes that local power has been in a state of crisis for years, with lack of coordination between the rayon administration and the local town and settlement leaders. He believes that Shelkovnikova will face major problems with overcoming the management crisis following her lack of support from regional authorities and the PechengaNikel plant.
Nadezhda Shelkovnikova is currently Director of the state-supported Pechenga Centre for Social Support. She earlier had a high post in the local administration of former town mayor Ivanov.
