MARKELOV, Leonid Igorevich

President, Head of the government of the Republic of Marii-El 06/09/2010

 

Leonid Markelov (Леонид Игоревич Маркелов) was born June 25, 1953 in Moscow. He is president of the Republic of Marii-El and a member of the United Russia party.

Markelov graduated from the Military Institute of Soviet Union Ministry of Defense in 1986, majoring in law. After graduating, he served in the military court in the Republic of Marii-El. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1988 to 1991.

Having left the army in 1992, he continued to practice law, as a member of the Inter-republic Bar Association.

Markelov was elected a deputy to the Russian State Duma in 1995, representing the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. In December of the following year, he ran for the presidency of the Republic of Marii-El and was narrowly beaten by Vyacheslav Kislytsyn. He then established the Marii-El Republic regional movement the Markelov Bloc, and from 1998-1999 published a political newspaper of the same name. In the late 1990s, he served on State Duma committees for science and education as well as budget, taxes, banks and finances.

In 2000, Markelov was named deputy general director of state insurance company Rosgosstrach. Later that year he ran against Kislytsyn for the presidency of the Republic of Marii-El again. In a second round vote in early 2001, Markelov was elected president, receiving 58 percent of the vote. During his first presidency, Markelov extended the term of office for the president and representatives of the local parliament to five years.

During his second successful presidential election campaign, Markelov was accused of wasting large amounts of government resources on his campaign, blocking opponents from equal representation in the local media. In December 2004, he was reelected with 56.86 percent of the vote. He joined United Russia in 2007.

The electoral system in 2005 was changed to allow heads of Russia’s federal subjects to be nominated by the Russian president. Markelov was reappointed under the new system in 2009.

In his time as president, Markelov has been accused of a number of human rights’ abuses. Opposition papers reported that they were forced to print outside the region and sites criticizing Markelov were blocked. He has also been accused of mismanaging the republic’s finances.

In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights issued a resolution outlining some of the accusations against Markelov’s administration. These included the murder of three journalists in 2001 and the beating of Vladimir Kozlov in February 2005.  The republic was accused of failing to properly protect journalists and threatening to shut down schools in areas where Markelov performed poorly in elections. Access to education and written materials in the Mari language is also restricted.

Markelov is married and has two children.

Contact Information

29 Leninsky prospekt
Ioshkar-Ola 424001
Tel +7 (8362) 64 15 25
Email president@gov.mari.ru
Website

All Articles >>