 On November 24, 1999 he told reporters that in his capacity as premier, he "should not define his political preferences" with respect to election blocs but "as an ordinary citizen" he will vote for Unity.The party’s leading candidates in 1999 State Duma elections were Sergey Shoygu, nine-times world wrestling champion Alexander Karelin and former senior police official Alexander Gurov.Unity, backed up by popular support for the Second Chechen War, relied on a campaign of verbal attacks to discredit the Fatherland-All Russia alliance.