| Valentina Matviyenko has officially announced her candidacy
for governor of St Petersburg. Everything is ready for her to assume power
in the city: the seat of the former governor Vladimir Yakovlev has been
temporarily assigned to a loyal person, and yesterday the office of the
presidential envoy snatched control of the city's leading television network,
the Petersburg Channel - a key resource in the forthcoming election campaign.
Vladimir Putin's plenipotentiary representative to north-west RussiaValentina
Matviyenko chose a very appropriate venue for announcing herintent to run
for governor - the Oktyabrsky Big Concert Hall, where an award ceremony
for St Petersburg school-leavers was being held on Tuesday. In all 30 of
the city's top pupils were invited to a meeting with the presidential envoy,
who awarded them medals in commemoration of their home town's 300th anniversary.
As she addressed the school-leavers, the symbolic newgeneration, Matviyenko
said what many had been anticipating: ''My decision to run is firm and
final.'' It has to be admitted that Valentina Matviyenko, even though she
had never voiced her gubernatorial ambitions, had been considered one of
the strongest candidates for the post. On Tuesday it became clear that
her appointment as presidential envoy to the North-West Federal District
was only temporary: Valentina Ivanovna [Matviyenko] needed that post as
a foothold for her campaign if Vladimir Yakovlev had refusal to abandon
the seat voluntarily. ''Valentina Ivanovna's decision was not a surprise
for us,'' said the deputy chairman of the Yabloko party Igor
Artemiev. ''Yabloko understood that Valentina Matviyenko would run.
We are ready to meet and discuss the future campaign with her,'' Artemiev
said. Many others also perceived her intentions. Earlier this month the
governor of St. Petersburg Vladimir Yakovlev, after holding the post for
seven years, was appointed deputy prime minister responsible for the housing
sector, construction and transportation by President Putin. Subsequently,
Yakovlev vacated the governor's post in the northern capital. Former deputy
governor and the head of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party's St Petersburg
branch Alexander Beglov was appointed acting governor pending new elections.
Despite the endless speculation in the media and among political observerswho
viewed Matviyenko as the likeliest candidate for the vacated post, thepresidential
envoy had until recently acted cautiously. She admitted that she had received
numerous proposals from St. Petersburg public figures and politicians to
run for governor, before adding that she would have to thoroughly consider
those offers. Matviyenko took as much time for reflection as was needed
for the federal centre to take full control of the city's leading media
outlet, the Petersburg television network. As Gazeta.Ru wrote earlier,
the editorial policy of the city's channel was geared towards the interests
of the Yakovlev team, and has been subject to unprecedented pressure of
late. The director general of the company Irina Terkina has been forced
to leave after working in this post for over10 years. On Saturday the channel's
board appointed Igor Igrnatiev acting director general of the company.
Previously Ignatiev had worked at the St. Petersburg branch of the state-owned
All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Corporation [the owner
of the nationwide Rossia Channel and Radio of Russia], the main mouthpiece
of the office of the presidential envoy in northwestern Russia. Chairman
of the Legislative Assembly of St Petersburg Vadim Tyulpanov does not rule
out that the elections for governor and those for Leningrad Region may
be combined to attract as many voters as possible to the polling stations
and are likely to be held on September 21. The speaker said he considered
Matviyenko's candidature ''most attractive''. On Tuesday he cited the latest
results of a public opinion poll, which stated that the envoy's rating
exceeded 30 per cent. Among other likely contenders to the governor's post
Tyulpanov named StateDuma deputy Oksana Dmitriyeva and the deputy governor
Anna Markova, whose ratings are 10 and 5 per cent respectively. Anna Markova
has already officially announced her intention to run. However, observers
agree that Vladimir Yakovlev's successor, whetherardent supporters (Yuri
Rydnik or Anna Markova), or Oksana Dmitriyeva, however different their
popularity ratings, no longer have there sources to win over Yakovlev's
former supporters. Valentina Matviyenko first ran for the St. Petersburg
governorship in 2000. However, then she joined the race too late to win.
Besides, the administrative resources in the city were in the hands of
the incumbentYakovlev. Her chances of winning were regarded as extremely
low, despite the Kremlin's full support, and Matviyenko withdrew her candidacy
to avoid an ignominious defeat. This time, her victory is deemed inevitable,
with her chances of losing believed to be as low as her chances of winning
backin 2000.
See also:
Gubernatorial
Elections in St Petersburg 2003
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gazeta.ru, June 25, 2003
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