The gubernatorial election in Kemerovo Oblast will be postponed until next year, ITAR-TASS reported on 7 October, citing First Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Aleksandr Kazakov. Kazakov argued that the oblast cannot elect a governor because there is no regional legislature to adopt an electoral law. The legislature could not muster a quorum to extend its term, which expired in March, or call an election. President Yeltsin issued a decree in July setting a new legislature election for December. Kazakov said that the gubernatorial election, which was also to be held in December, will take place once the new legislature adopts a law.
Observers expect a tight race.
Pensioners in the North Ossetiyan capital of Vladikavkaz rallied on 6 October to protest a four-month delay in the payment of their pensions, Radio Rossii reported. Demonstrations by pensioners have become a relatively common occurrence in many areas of Russia because of the indebtedness of the Russian Pension Fund. The debt is now higher than the fund's monthly outgoings, which totaled 12.4 trillion in September. The fund is owed 40 trillion rubles by enterprises and 12.8 trillion by the Finance Ministry, according to fund official Andrei Tyshko. Teachers in many Russian regions staged protests on 7 October to demand the payment of wage arrears, reliable state funding for education, and constitutional recognition of the government's responsibility for education, ITAR-TASS reported.