MOSCOW, October 5 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin has nominated a candidate to the presidency of Bashkortostan, Russia's republic in the southern Urals, the Kremlin press office said Thursday.

"The president of Russia proposed that the Kurtalai legislative assembly of the Republic of Bashkortostan discuss Murtaza Rakhimov's nomination as the republic's president," the Kremlin said.

More than 50% of the members of the local legislature must approve the nominee for the candidate to become regional leader under the Putin-proposed 2004 law that cancelled gubernatorial elections and gave the president the right to nominate candidates. The law has been criticized by rights groups in Russia and abroad as undemocratic.

This could be the third term for Rakhimov, 72, who has ruled the republic with an iron hand since 1993.

The Constitution prohibits more than two consecutives terms in office for federal and regional presidents, but the Constitutional Court ruled in 2002 that presidential terms before October 1999 do not count.

Rakhimov's previous direct presidential campaign in December 2003 was marred by scandals, including the seizure by federal police of a batch of fake ballot papers from a publishing house controlled by the republican administration, and other violations.

Rakhmonov won the 2003 election although he was challenged by strong candidates, including Sergei Veremeyenko, a co-owner of Kremlin-connected Mezhprombank, and Ralif Safin, former vice president of LUKoil, Russia's largest independent oil producer.

Both companies have strong interests in the republic's major petrochemical facilities, which are controlled by the local administration.