He plans to register the group at the Central Elections Commission and start the collection of two million signatures in his support. It is necessary to present the signatures to the commission by January 16.

Meanwhile, the Central Elections Commission said that the initiative was doomed to failure. The Law on Presidential Elections says that only a Russi

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an citizens, who has permanently lived in the country for ten years, is an eligible candidate, commission member Yelena Dubrovina said.

It is also impossible to nominate a person, who has dual citizenship.

Bukovsky, who took permanent residence in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, has challenged the norm at the Russian Constitutional Court. The Court said on Sunday they had heard the application and would make a written judgment. “That may take up to two months,” a court source told Itar-Tass.

On Friday the Central Elections Commission registered the first initiative group in support of a self-nominated presidential candidate.

This is the group of former premier Mikhail Kasyanov, which held its first meeting in Moscow on December 9.

All in all, 25 initiative groups have notified the Central Elections Commission of their wish to support self-nominated candidates, commission member Maya Grishina said earlier.

Once an initiative group gets registered, it has the right to collect 2 million signatures the applicant needs for registration.

The Central Elections Commission has also registered Kasyanov’s campaign representatives and allowed him to open a special elections account at Sberbank.

The Federation Council set the day of presidential elections for March 2. “There can be no other date by law,” Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov said.

The Russian constitution says that presidential elections must be held on the second Sunday of the month in which the previous presidential elections were held.

If the designated Sunday follows a national holiday, the elections shall take place a week earlier, says the Law on Presidential Elections. In 2008 the second Sunday of March will follow the International Women’s Day, March 8, so the elections will be held on March 2.

A resolution, which sets the date of presidential elections, shall be officially posted in the media within five days.

The post of a president elected in a universal vote was established in Russia at a nationwide referendum of March 17, 1991. Boris Yeltsin held the position from June 1991 through December 1999. He stepped down on December 31, 1999, and then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin became the acting president.

Putin won the presidential elections in the first round with 52.94% of votes on March 26, 2000. He was inaugurated on May 7, 2000.

Putin was elected for the second term of office in the first round of elections with 71.31% of voters on March 14, 2004, and was inaugurated on May 7.

The constitution says that the Russian president shall be elected for the period of four years through a universal, equal, direct and secret vote. Any Russian citizen older than 35, who permanently lives in the country for no less than a decade, can be elected president. One and the same person cannot have more than two terms of presidency in a row.

The election is held nationwide by the majority system and may have two rounds.

The Law on Presidential Elections was amended after 2004 to meet the amendments to the Law on Political Parties and the Law on Fundamental Guarantees of Voting and Referenda Rights in the Russian Federation.

The amendments barred foreign citizens and individuals convicted for grave and extremist crimes from the presidential race.

In this election campaign candidates can be nominated by political parties or nominate themselves. The previous elections allowed for nominations by an election bloc. This provision is now invalid.

In contrast to the previous elections, a political party cannot nominate a candidate affiliated to another political party.

There is no minimum turnout for the election validity. Previously, the election validity threshold was set at 50%.

There will be no election option ‘against all candidates’ that existed since 1991. A voter will mark his choice on the ballot sheet. If there is only one candidate, there will be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ options.

In contrast to the previous elections, candidates may have larger campaign funds (under 400 million rubles in contrast to the previous 250 million). A candidate in the second round may have the campaign fund of under 500 million rubles (300 million in the past).

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The president of the Russian Federation is the chief of state and the guarantor of the constitution and human and civil rights, who safeguards the Russian sovereignty, independence and state integrity, ensures the coordinated operation and interaction of power bodies, and lays down fundamentals of the domestic and foreign policy of the country.

The president enjoys broad powers in the supervision of executive authorities. He appoints the prime minister with consent of the State Duma and appoints and dismisses ministers at the initiative of the premier. The president also dismisses the government and approves the structure of federal executive authorities.

The president supervises the activity of federal executive agencies in charge of defense, security, the interior, foreign affairs and emergency situations. He approves related regulations and chiefs of the aforesaid agencies at the proposal of the prime minister.

The president forms and leads the Security Council, approves the military doctrine, announces the state of emergency, appoints and dismisses top-ranking military commanders and announces the state of war in the capacity of the supreme commander of the Russian armed forces.

The president also heads the State Council, which is an advisory body.

The president declares the State Duma elections, submits bills to the parliament, signs and posts federal laws and uses the right to veto. In certain cases envisaged by the Russian constitution and laws, he dissolves the State Duma, declares referenda and makes annual state of the nation addresses to the Federal Assembly.

The president nominates at the State Duma and initiates the dismissal of the Central Bank chairman.

He also nominates at the Federation Council judges of the Russian Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Arbitration Court and the Prosecutor General. He initiates the dismissal of the Prosecutor General at the Federation Council and appoints federal judges.

The president grants Russian citizenship and political asylum and bestows state awards, honorary titles and supreme military and special ranks. He also has the right to pardon. The president enjoys immunity.

MOSCOW, December 17 (Itar-Tass)