Volgograd Obama Not To Be
By Michael • Oct 12th, 2009 • Category: NotesResidents of the Srednyaya Akhtuba district in Russia’s Volgorgad region did not elect Guinea-Bissau native Joachim Crima to the post of District chief or to the local parliament in October 11 elections Russian press Newsru.com, Ria Novosti, and Interfax (below) report.
VOLGOGRAD Oct 12 (Interfax) – Afro-Russians who competed for heading the administration of the Srednaya Akhtuba district of the Volgograd region on October 11, took their defeat calmly. United Russia candidate Sergei Tikhonov won the race.
One of the candidates, Joachim Crima, told Interfax by phone he did not mind the defeat. “That is the voters’ choice, and life marches on. I am grateful to everyone who voted for me,” he said.
Crima said he would not quit politics. “I will continue to take part in the political life of the region, and time will show what I can do. Anyway, I will take part in the next election,” he said. “The participation of Afro-Russians in the elections is a serious step for Russia,” he said.
What a pity. I really wanted him to win. Does anyone knows how many votes he got and in which position he ended? If he got second or even third, it is still a quite successful result.
MOSCOW Oct 12 (AFP) – The so-called “Russian Obama” has failed in his bid to become Russia’s first elected official of African descent, but said Monday he was satisfied with his third place finish.
Joaquim Crima, an immigrant from Guinea-Bissau whose candidacy for a seat in a local Russian legislature had drawn international attention, took only 4.75 percent of the vote, a regional election official said.
“I expected to gain around one percent and I came in third,” Crima told AFP, calling himself “pleasantly surprised.”
Crima, who has been living in Russia since 1989, had been seeking a seat in the municipal legislature of the Srednaya Akhtuba district in the Volgograd Region of southern Russia.
He finished behind Sergei Tikhonov, the candidate of the ruling United Russia party, who took 47 percent of the vote, and Vladimir Romanov, who took 30.7 percent, a spokesperson for the regional election commission told AFP.
Crima’s candidacy had astounded observers and drawn media attention, with non-whites often subjected to suspicion in Russia and sometimes even violent racist attacks.
[...] in Bardak – Africans in Russia reports that Joachim Crima (a Guinea-Bissau native aka “Russian Obama”) did not get elected to [...]