BRYANSK, October 8 (Itar-Tass) —— One of the leaders of the ruling United Russia party, Sergei Neverov, called for putting an end to lawlessness and for keeping criminals away from power.
“We must say ‘No’ to those who want to deprive our children of their future. We must say ‘No’ to representatives of the Communist Party of Russia, these ‘Varangians’ who have come here and want to discredit the elections,” Neverov said at a rally organised by United Russia and the Liberal Democratic Party in support of incumbent Bryansk Region Governor Nikolai Denin, whose registration as a gubernatorial candidate has been cancelled by the regional court.
Neverov stressed that United Russia’s opponents want to “return us to the nineties – the years of upheavals!” “We will not let them do that. The future of Bryansk Region is to be determined by you people who live here. And we must tell them today so that they heard and remembered that there will be no return to the nineties. No to lawlessness! No to unfair elections! No to unfair decisions! You must elect the authorities,” Neverov said.
The rally that brought together about 5,000 people also involved Liberal Democratic Party leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
He said the party would call back its candidate and would support Denin in the elections slated for October 14.
“We fully support Denin. We can have different banners, but governor is a concrete person who represents the interests of all people living in the region,” he said.
On October 5, the Bryansk regional court cancelled Denin’s registration as a gubernatorial candidate, thus upholding the Communist Party’s candidate Vadim Potomosky who claimed that lists of signatures in support of Denin contained mistakes.
Denin has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court which is to hand down its verdict within five days.
A member of the Public Chamber and the executive director of the “Civil Control” Association, Georgy Fyodorov, described the Bryansk regional court’s ruling as doubtful and strange especially in light of the fact that it was made a week before the elections.
“Civil Control was in Bryansk and found no signs of trouble, the election campaign was moving smoothly,” he said.
Fyodorov also believes it necessary to conduct an investigation to seek if pressure was exerted on the court or attempts were made to bribe it. This is probable since Denin’s main opponent has large financial resources.
The expert also stated that all municipal deputies whose signatures were questioned by court have already confirmed that they gave their signature in support of Denin.
He stressed that the Supreme Court should examine the case. “One has to fight,” he added.
Central Election Commission Deputy Chairman Leonid Ivlev told Itar-Tass that the Commission was “surprised by the Bryansk regional court’s ruling that cancelled Denin’s registration”.
“The actions of the Bryansk election commission to register Denin were absolutely lawful,” he said and added that “the Central Election Commission is advising the Bryansk region election commission on how to prepare an appeal to the Supreme Court”.
Denin has been running the region since 2008.