Party activist stabbed in Petersburg before polls
Source: Reuters
ST PETERSBURG, Russia, March 10 (Reuters) - A local activist for a new pro-Kremlin party, Fair Russia, was stabbed outside his home on Saturday, raising political tension in Russia's second city ahead of Sunday's regional elections. Viktor Bykov, who was directing the campaign effort of a Fair Russia candidate running for St Petersburg's municipal council, was taken to hospital in a serious condition suffering from three stab wounds. He was attacked at the entrance to the apartment block where he lived early on Saturday, his party and police said. "Regaining consciousness, he said the attempt on his life was 'politically motivated', linked to his role in the election on a ticket of Fair Russia party," the party's local branch said in a statement. Fair Russia is loyal to the Kremlin and says it is competing with the more dominant United Russia to shake its monopoly on state power. Critics say the rivalry between them is a sham. Campaigning before Sunday's polls has been largely calm and well-orchestrated, with analysts predicting loyal parties will win a vast majority in legislative councils of 14 regions. The polls are expected to cement Kremlin's hold on power ahead of this year's parliamentary election and a 2008 vote for president. In contrast to the rest of Russia where there is almost unanimous support for forces supporting President Vladimir Putin, St Petersburg has seen protest marches and clashes with police. The main cause for the tension in St Petersburg, Putin's home town, was the decision to shut the liberal Yabloko party out of the March vote due to what officials said were irregularities in its application documents. St Petersburg is traditionally viewed as a stronghold of Russian intellectuals and analysts had predicted Yabloko would have won some 20 percent of votes there if it had not been blocked from running.
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