Moscow legislators to review candidacy for mayor next week.

MOSCOW, October 16 (Itar-Tass) - The Moscow legislators will consider
the candidacy of Sergei Sobyanin for the post of city mayor next week, an
official said on Friday.
"We'll gather on Monday, hold a session of the commission on
organizing the work of the Moscow legislature, and discuss everything.
Most likely, we'll consider the candidacy at an extraordinary session,"
deputy chairman of the Moscow legislature and head of the United Russia
faction in it Andrei Metelsky told Itar-Tass, noting that "the issue is
very important, and should not be heaped together with other issues."
Earlier on Friday, President Dmitry Medvedev said he would nominate
Sergei Sobyanin for Moscow mayor.
Secretary of the Presidium of United Russia's General Council
Vyacheslav Volodin believes that the president's decision regarding
Sobyanin's candidacy is a well-considered option.
"Sobyanin has the necessary personal and professional qualities which
enable him to resolve problems that cause the Muscovites' concern. He has
an effective experience in governing a region, and is well-versed in the
work of both federal and self-rule bodies," Volodin said.
"Sergei Sobyanin is a lawyer by education; it will help him to more
effectively resolve the problems of fighting corruption and protecting
citizens' rights: it is these tasks that the president set before him as
priorities.
"If we add personal qualities to his professional ones, we can say
that the Muscovites will have a worthy mayor," he added.
On October 9, United Russia proposed the following candidacies for the
post of Moscow mayor: Transport Minister Igor Levitin, Deputy Prime
Minister, head of the government staff Sergei Sobyanin, Nizhny Novgorod
governor Valery Shantsev and First Deputy Chairwoman of the Moscow
government Lyudmila Shevtsova.
First deputy head of the Just Russia faction at the State Duma lower
house of the Russian parliament Oksana Dmitriyeva said Sobyanin, as Moscow
mayor, will have to tackle city budget-2011 the first thing.
"The first thing is budget-2011. It is the first issue he'll have to
deal with and scrutinize," Dmitryeva said noting that the new mayor "has
an effective team for it, as the financial-budget bloc in Moscow is quite
efficient."
She said Sobyanin's candidacy was "expected."
"I'm hoping he'll keep the advantages the Moscow team had, i.e. the
social and financial-economic bloc. The mayor will have to handle all
kinds of problems, such as construction policy," Dmitriyeva said.
Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said Sergei Soyanin would find the
job difficult.
"It will be hard for him, although 80 percent of money goes through
Moscow, the stratification has become critical. If we compare provinces
with Moscow, wages in the Russian capital are 8 to 9 times higher than
elsewhere in the country. It's an absolutely abnormal situation," Zyuganov
said.
The Communist leader is confident that the city must change its
social-economic course.
Speaking about Sobyanin's personal qualities, Zyuganov said he "is a
quite experience person, who has had a rather serious school as governor,
legislator and Federation Council member."
Leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) faction at the State
Duma Igor Lebedev said his faction supported the president's decision.
In his opinion, Sobyanin is a new person for the Moscow team, who can
change a lot within the city administration.
"Sobyanin already has a working experience as head of the largest
region, and I'm sure he'll be able to cope without problems," Lebedev said.
He added that the LDPR foremost expects Sobyanin to replace old city
officials.
"We're expecting a serious reshuffle and the preservation of the
city's historical appearance, as well as decisions regarding old
construction sites," the leader of the LDPR faction said.
He believes the new mayor should not make haste to relocate the
monument to Peter I.
-0-myz