MOSCOW, March 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) on Saturday annulled the presidential candidacy of Ivan Rybkin, who voluntarily quit the March 14 campaign a day earlier.

    The CEC said it accepted Rybkin's withdrawal request and thus annulled his registration as a candidate for president under Russia's election law, the Interfax news agency reported.

    Local election commissions will remove Rybkin's name from the voting ballots. Observers, representatives, CEC members who were appointed by Rybkin and the groups supporting him in the race willhave to stop work.

    Rybkin announced Friday that he would not take part in the March presidential election and he later sent a written application to the CEC about his decision but without explaining the reasons.

    CEC Chairman Alexander Veshnyakov said that a great deal of work must be done to remove all information about Rybkin from the ballots before the date of election.

    Rybkin, a fierce critic of the incumbent President Vladimir Putin that will undoubtedly win his re-election in the upcoming race, has complained that it is extremely hard for an opposition candidate to work in Russia.

    The 57-year-old candidate, who mysteriously disappeared for five days early last month and finally returned to Moscow Thursdayafter a weird brief trip in London.

    With a voter support rate of less than one percent, Rybkin had been running in last place among the contenders in the presidential poll.

    After Rybkin's withdrawal, six contenders will run for the presidential race. Putin's popularity stands at nearly 80 percent,with none of his current five rivals getting an approval rating higher than four percent. Enditem