ZYUGANOV SET TO BECOME FIRST REGISTERED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE…

Communist party leader Gennady Zyuganov is set to become the first officially registered candidate in the June presidential elections. The deadline for submission of the required minimum of one million signatures is April 16, but ZyuganovÕs supporters have already deposited 1.7 million signatures with the Central Election Commission (TsIK), together with a statement signed by Zyuganov that he is willing to run for president and copies of his 1994-95 income tax return. The TsIK has told his supporters to stop collecting signatures. TsIK chairman Nikolai Ryabov says so many supporter groups are collecting signatures for their candidates that it is quite probable that no clear winner will emerge from the first round of voting June 16 and that a runoff will have to be held to select the final victor. (5)

…And Leads Public Opinion Poll.