Kremlin Official Suggests the Dismissal of Governors for Imbecility

Tver Regional Governor, Dmitri Zelenin, published on Twitter a photo of a worm he allegedly found in a salad served at a Kremlin dinner in honour of German President Christian Wulff. “It was a very special way to show the salad was fresh,” Zelenin commented. In an unusually rude response, President’s aid Sergei Prikhodko stated: “I should probably suggest to my legislator colleagues that they introduce a ‘termination for imbecility’ provision into the law for governors.” Zelenin, a prominent entrepreneur, was elected Governor in 2003 and re-appointed to the office by President Vladimir Putin in 2007. After 2004, governors in Russia have been appointed by the President (with some involvement of the local legislature and political parties) rather than elected by popular vote. The President is also able to dismiss a head of a region on “loss of trust” grounds, which President Dmitri Medvedev recently did with the Moscow Mayor (whose office is equivalent to a governor’s).

http://gazeta.ru/politics/2010/10/13_a_3428388.shtml