No monument to General Lebed will be erected in Bender

The voter turnout of less than 50% makes the referendum on the placement of a monument to Russian general Alexandr Lebed in Transnistria's Bender (Tighina) town invalid. In 1992-1995, the General led the 14th Army deployed in the Transnistrian region, Info-Prim Neo's correspondent in Tiraspol reports. The initiative to erect the monument was put forward by a public organizations created by the General. The proposal aroused controversy at the meetings of the Bender town council. Specialists of the cultural heritage department of the Transnistrian ministry of education were consulted. A special interdepartmental commission was set up to examine the case. As no consensus was reached, it was decided to hold a referendum. The voter turnout on March 28 was 34.8%, but at least 50% was needed to declare the referendum valid. Alexander Lebed was a Russian Lieutenant General and politician. He placed third in the 1996 Russian presidential elections with 14.5% of the vote nationwide. He later served as Russia's Secretary of the Security Council and as governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia's second largest region. He served four years in the latter position, until his death, following a Mi-8 helicopter crash in 2002.