15:00, 22 September 2009

Elista Mayor wants to be Kalmykia's Prime Minister

Mayor of Elista Radiy Burulov has offered himself to local members of the "Edinaya Rossiya" Party as a candidate to the post of Kalmykia's Premier. Mr Burulov said that he would like to share the power in the republic among the Prime Minister and the President and offered the latter to deal exclusively with political matters and not to interfere with operation of the government.

The "Edinaya Rossiya" makes no comments on Mayor's words. The current government reminds that Radiy Burulov is now under inquiry and emphasizes that his claims for the post of Prime Minister are groundless. Observers believe that by his statement Radiy Burulov wanted to damage incumbent President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, whose term expires in 2010, the "Kommersant" newspaper writes.

"Ilyumzhinov has turned into a rather odious figure at the background of other governors; he has failed to preserve his positive image," the "Gazeta.Ru" quotes Professor Rostislav Turovskiy from the Department of Political Science of the Moscow State University, who believes that Ilyumzhinov will hardly be re-appointed for the forthcoming four years.