"Today, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko submitted to Russian President Vladimir Putin a statement asking him to relieve her of her powers ahead of schedule, and asking for a vote of confidence," the city government said.
However, the move is not seen as an outright resignation, but rather as a maneuver designed to secure a presidential endorsement for a second term.
A Putin-sponsored 2004 law canceled gubernatorial elections and gave the president the right to nominate candidates. More than 50% of the members of the local legislature must approve a nominee for the candidate to become a regional leader.
Rights groups in Russia and abroad have criticized the law as undemocratic.
Some regional leaders turn to the Russian president even before the end of their terms, asking him to recommend them to local parliaments in line with the new scheme, which is what apparently happened in this case.
Matviyenko was elected St. Petersburg governor in October 2003 to a four-year term after serving, from March 11, 2003, as the Russian president's envoy in the Northwestern Federal District.
From September 1998 to March 2003 she was a deputy Russian prime minister.
