SPS Picks Kokh as Election Chief.

(From The Moscow Times)

Alfred Kokh, one of the most colorful and controversial figures in both business and politics, will undertake next Monday the daunting task of managing the parliamentary election campaign for the liberal Union of Right Forces party.

"It will be a challenge," Kokh said in a telephone interview Monday.

The leadership of Union of Right Forces, or SPS, late last week appointed Kokh as the party's campaign manager for State Duma elections in December.

Kokh, an aggressive businessman and longtime associate of SPS co-founder Anatoly Chubais, is spearheading the campaign at a time when its chances of getting into the Duma are uncertain, with its ratings hovering around …