VOLGOGRAD, September 2 (RIA Novosti) - An African immigrant aiming to become Russia's first black elected official has been registered as a candidate to a local parliament in southern Russia, an election official said on Wednesday.
Joachim Crima, who is well-known locally for selling watermelons, was dubbed the "Volgograd Obama" by Russian media in July soon after he announced his intention to run as an independent candidate in the election in the Volgograd Region's Srednyaya Akhtuba District.
"The election commission in the Srednyaya Akhtuba District registered Joachim Crima as a candidate for the district's parliament," the spokesman for the local election commission said, adding that the 37-year-old from Guinea-Bissau would soon receive his candidate's identity card.
Crima has been living in Russia for about 20 years and is a member of the United Russia party headed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. His campaign slogan declares he is ready to "toil day and night like a negro."
He is one of nine contenders who announced their readiness to run in the election, including another black man who is expected to be registered as a candidate soon. Moscow Region-born Filipp Kondratyev, whose absent father is from Ghana and whose mother is Russian, is said to look similar to U.S. President Barack Obama.
