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WILL GOVERNORS RESIGN VOLUNTARILY?

MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) - The new federal law abolishing gubernatorial elections entered into force yesterday. The question is now whether popularly elected governors will resign on their own accord to be re-appointed to the same post by the president. (Under the new law, governors elected by direct vote can tender their resignations to the president before their term expires.)

Some newly elected governors, including Krasnodar Governor Alexander Tkachev, have expressed a willingness to test the new mechanisms, writes Vremya Novostei citing its sources.

The procedure simple: a governor only has to tender his resignation in good time and the president can propose that the relevant local legislature approves the incumbent governor's new candidature. However, those who do resign on their own accord can be fired by the president at any moment, which is not a very rosy prospect.

Experts predict that governors will not rush to resign, with the exception of regional leaders whose terms are expiring.

The Kremlin administration has no appropriate "personnel reserve" to carry out the "gubernatorial draft" proposed by President Putin. Therefore, the majority of elected governors are likely to retain their positions. Experts believe the governors who have three to four years in office ahead of them and whose positions are rather uncertain will not tender their resignation. Nor will the newly elected governors do so, as that would be illogical from the perspective of public opinion.