This week, the election campaign was officially started in the regions. In addition to elections on new regional legislative assemblies, also elections to municipal councils and town mayors will be held, newspaper Kommersant reports.
For Arkhangelsk Oblast in particular, the elections will be a major test of confidence for the regional authorities. The Arkhangelsk city mayor’s elections in May this year significantly strained the population’s confidence in the political establishment.
Then, only 17,9 percent of the electorate cast their votes. Opposition candidate Larisa Bazanova was first declared winner of the vote, but was then deprived the victory after a recount demanded by acting city mayor Viktor Pavlenko. Observers quickly concluded that the elections were rigged.
The quickly unfolding economic crisis in the region might further strain the support for regional authorities. The March election will show to what extent Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk and the regional United Russia Party have managed to convince the electorate.
The United Russia Party will however both in Arkhangelsk Oblast and in the Nenets AO benefit from the regions’ adoption of the socalled Imperiale election method, which significantly favours the biggest political parties.
While Arkhangelsk Oblast ahead of the March election have raised the party representation barrier to seven percent, the Nenets AO has decided to do the opposite. There, the barrier has been reduced to five percent. That could open up for a bigger variety of parties in the 11-member regional parliament.
