Kanokov to become Kabardino-Balkarian president once more

Kanokov’s presidential term expires in September 2010. 

Due to the fact that the system of elections of regional leaders has been abolished, its functions are carried out by the Russian president and notable local parliamentary parties, which is, in fact, the United Russia party. The list of candidates includes Arsen Kanokov, head of the regional government Aleksandr Merkulov and speaker of the Kabardino-Balkarian parliament Anwar Chechenov. The Russian president chose Kanokov.

Even previously, experts agreed that Kanokov was the only probable candidate.

In 2003 he became an LDPR deputy to the Duma. Kanokov said that he was offered the chance to run as a Duma deputy by the then President of Kabardino-Balkaria, Valery Kokov, when Kanokov was a successful businessman. In September, President Vladimir Putin proposed Kanokov's candidature for consideration by the Parliament of Kabardino-Balkaria and all 105 candidates voted unanimously for Kanokov.

It is difficult to say if Kanokov will have the same rating this year. His first presidential term was a difficult one. There was little investment and many problems with extremists. Some journalists accuse Kanokov of cronyism and ties with the mafia, militants and even the CIA ( www.moscow-post.ru says that Kanokov is a CIA agent).

Kanokov seeks to strengthen his position.

In his manifesto Kanokov more than twice promised to make the economy of Kabardino-Blakaria independent of federal subsidies.  Kanokov said that, despite the measures taken against corruption, it has not been defeated yet.

Ekaterina Tesemikova, exclusive to VK