Russia's top election body has ordered a local election commission in Western Siberia to accept Dmitry Stalin's candidacy for regional parliamentary polls.
The Central Election Commission has upheld an appeal filed by Stalin, who says he was barred from running in the election because of his surname which is the same as that of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, one of bloodiest in world history.
Stalin, a candidate from the A Just Russia party, was removed from the March 13 polls in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region by the local election commission on February 3. He later appealed the decision.
The candidate's rejection was made upon the request of native minorities angry over what they say are the party's dirty election techniques. They accuse A Just Russia of using candidates' names to attract more votes.
Last week, Stalin held a picket in Moscow near the building of Russia's top election body.
The CEC ordered the Khanty-Mansi commission to accept Stalin as a candidate to "ensure his electoral rights." It criticized the earlier decision to reject his candidacy saying it was "groundless."
A Just Russia party said in a statement: "Stalin demands democracy...He thinks the commission took a jaundiced view of him just because of his surname. But what is Stalin guilty of if he was born and lived his whole life with this surname?"
MOSCOW, February 15 (RIA Novosti)
