After a decisive victory two weeks ago in Dobryn, the leader of the opposition Union Party has said he is ‘confident’ of finishing ahead of Governor Stepan Michalvich in today’s second primary for the unionist nomination for the presidency. Gennadiy Artamova won the Dobryn primary with 57% of the vote ahead of Mr Michalvich’s 41%, and according to early polling figures, voters in the Amarian district of Mozyr are expected to deliver a similar result this weekend.
Heading to the polls today, citizens who identify as Union Party voters and supporters can qualify to register a vote for either Mr Artamova or Mr Michalvich in the first election of its kind in Polasciana. It is expected that nearly 20,000 voters will take part in the vote today, less than that in Dobryn. Mozyr as a region is centred around a city, of the same name, in the north of Amar state. It is considered a strong-hold for the party – achieving over 70% of the vote at the last general election in 2008. Many of the states low-qualified unskilled manufacturing workers live in the outskirts of the city, which is one of the largest in the state. Amar itself is the second most populated in the country, and accounts for nearly 15% of the total vote in national elections. Mr Michalvich has campaigned extensively in the suburban towns since the beginning of the contest – staking his campaign on a win here, while Mr Artamova has focused on lobbying business leaders within the city for high-profile support. A win for Mr Artamova would likely point to a decisive victory in the entire campaign – and suggest he was on course to become the party’s presidential nominee ahead of the general election in October.
But supporters of Kamchetkan Governor Stepan Michalvich have denied his campaign is ‘fading’, insisting that they were ‘on course’ to ‘poll strongly’ in Mozyr. Running on a campaign theme of ‘inspiration’, Governor Michalvich was the party’s nominee in the first presidential election in 2003 – polling second to eventual winner, Koruin Gruaman. The Mayor of the country’s capital and a close friend of Mr Michalvich, Philip Kirkiosma, who is serving as campaign director, insists that the Governor can win the nomination. “A strong showing here in Mozyr will give us the confidence and the momentum to go forward.” Kirkiosma, likely to replace Michalvich as the Governor of Kamchetka if he were to win, went on to suggest that only ‘a small amount’ of votes had been cast in relation to the entire contest which ends on July 17th. A win this weekend would springboard Michalvich into contention, ahead of the major polling weekend in two-weeks on July 10th – where over 50 regions will vote.
Artamova, supported by a number of influential unionists, is backed by President Lukyanov and succeeded former Prime Minister Maksim Obelchenko in becoming the leader of the party over a year ago. Both candidates sit in the upper, federal, house of Parliament and both reject the Centrist government’s plans to privatise the energy industry and lighten regulation and control of the economy. However, Governor Michalvich is the more liberal candidate – focusing his campaign around using economic growth to ‘build’ jobs and eliminate ‘social disjointedness’. Attacked by Mr Artamova for being ‘weak’ against the governing Centrist and Nationalist parties, Michalvich insists he is a ‘competent’ and ‘strong’ leader.
The Polascianan Centrists have ruled out holding a similar primary contest, but will hold an internal ballot in the next few weeks – they are expected to nominate weakened Prime Minister, Koruin Gruaman. The United Nationalist Democrats have already nominated Tymur Rubin in the contest, to be held in October.
