In rural Russia, a woman cleaning the local government building was voted’ in office as she stood for re-election of her boss.
Marina Udgodskaya won with 62% of the
vote, easily defeating the Kremlin's pro-United Russia ally and supporter
Nikolai Loktev.
She stood for election only because no one
had challenged the former police officer in the village of Povalikhino,
Kostroma, about 525 kilometers east of Moscow.
Mr. Loktev allegedly persuaded Ms
Udgodskaya to register as a "rival" to give the impression of a real
competition.
However, his plan failed when backfired
easily defeated him because he claimed only 34% of the vote.
Speaking to the BBC, a member of the local
election commission in Podyom said: "Nikolai Loktev thought no one would
vote for him and he would stay in the job. But people had enough and he Came
out and chose Marina Udgodskaya.
He added: "She was shocked and she
was devastated!"
Ms Udgodskaya wants to keep a low profile
before her inauguration after winning national headlines this weekend.
In an interview with News Channel Podium
after the election, he said: "I didn't think they would vote for me; I did
nothing!"
He admitted: "I did not nominate
myself. Nikolai Loktev asked me. There was no other person here and I was a
fake candidate.
"I wanted to help her," he
explained.
The tactics of "technical" or
"puppet" candidates are not uncommon in Russia.
Ms. Udgodskaya village is the largest of
the 30 that will now come under her jurisdiction.
In an interview with the BBC, Mr. Loktev
said: "I have done everything necessary in my job. There is no problem in
the village.
He added: "Obviously people wanted
change."
Some say his victory was the result of
anti-Kremlin sentiment and protests against the United Russia party, which is
currently not doing well in the election.
The party won only 32% of the vote in the
regional parliament in Kostroma.
MS Udgodskaya victory could be a testament
to the smart voting strategy pushed by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which
encouraged the support of most candidates to defeat United Russia.
She has since become an unexpected hero
for anti-Putin politicians in Russia.
Opposition politician Dmitry Gadkov has
posted on Facebook that voters are now willing to support anyone but the
Kremlin's obedient candidates.
"People are ready to vote for
anything. It doesn't matter who you are in the profession, or what experience
you have," he said.
"I think if you had tried to win the
presidential election, you would have won there too, because 20 years of
dictatorship have brought a common desire - change," Gadkov told Ms
Udgodskaya.
He concluded: "And you, Marina, will
definitely not use Nochuk. And that's a big advantage.
The newspaper Rosskaya Gazeta reports that
MS Udgodskaya is unable to deny the mandate, as her supporters and the
Pensioners' Party will have to pay for the full election to be re-elected.
Meanwhile, until she begins her new role,
Ms. Udgodskaya will continue to clean up the administration building so that
she can walk faster, while the person she defeated picked up her belongings.
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