Sobyanin decides not to take part in election debates - campaign staff chief
MOSCOW. Aug 10 (Interfax) - Acting Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who will run in the early mayoral elections on September 8, has decided not to take part in TV and radio debates with other candidates, Lyudmila Shvetsova, the chief of Sobyanin's campaign staff, told journalists on Saturday.
"We can close all questions today and say that Moscow mayoral candidate Sergei Sobyanin will not take part in the debates but will instead concentrate on his campaign and on direct communication with Muscovites, his voters," she said.
Before making the decision, Sobyanin consulted his campaign, she said.
"Sergei [Sobyanin] asked the campaign staff's opinion, and we gave him our reasoned opinion, counting all pros and contras. And we suggested that he should not take part in the debates. He accepted our viewpoint and agreed to it," Shvetsova said.