OTHER HANKY PANKY.

The problems of Aleksandr Rutskoi’s "Derzhava" bloc might not end with the disclosure of his nominees’ criminal pasts. Ryabov’s commission said on Tuesday it had reason to believe that out of 270 candidates on "Derzhava’s" list, 86 had been "arbitrarily" put there without their consent. (7) As a result, Rutskoi’s party may not be certified to take part in the election. Meanwhile, the former Russian vice president admitted to some hanky-panky with the collection of signatures in support of his list, but claimed this was a "specious pretext" for the Electoral Commission to hold up the registration of "Derzhava."

As always, politics makes strange bedfellows. The Christian-Democratic Party also is under scrutiny for allegedly engaging in high-tech theft of address lists and the forgery of names. (8) Ryabov’s team is confident, though, that it can sniff out forgeries without much difficulty. So far, the Liberal-Democratic Party, which was registered last week, still holds the record for producing the highest proportion (10 percent) of faked signatures. (9)

Missing Inaction.