The head of the Yekaterinburg branch of...
Andrei Rusakov said the branch"s former chief Viktor Sheptiy "signed a letter of resignation at a meeting of the general council on Saturday," citing unsatisfactory poll results.
Yekaterinburg is the administrative center of the Sverdlovsk Region, where no United Russia candidate was successful in mayoral elections, while the party gained only 40% of the overall vote, instead of the expected 50-60%.
While he did not disclose who may head the branch after Sheptiy"s resignation is officially ratified at the party"s headquarters in Moscow, some commentators say Yelena Chechunova, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin"s regional aide, is the most likely replacement.
Elections to local authorities, which were seen by many in the West as a litmus test for the country"s ruling party, were held on March 14 in 76 out of 83 regions from the Far East to European Russia amid growing public frustration with the government"s economic policies.