After the August putsch of 1991, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree "On the issues of the activities of executive authorities." According to this document, regional administrations with Head of administration as the senior official in the region. Heads of administrations were appointed and removed from office by the president. However, this rule did not apply to autonomous republics where the highest official was elected directly by voters or by deputies of local parliaments (In 1991, elections were held in 8 of 21 republics). On 24 October 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Russia adopted the law "On the election of the head of administration" and scheduled the elections in a number of Russian regions for December 8 of the same year.