The scandalous duo t.A.T.u which represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) last year, is said to run for president of Russia at the next elections in March 2004,

A spokeswoman of the Neformat centre told reporters: ''We are going to collect signatures in support of proposing t.A.T.u as a candidate in the presidential elections in the Moscow Palace of Youth on Saturday. t.A.T.u are running together. We cannot separate the girls.'

She did not elaborate on how the decision corresponds with Russian law which says nothing about dual candidacies for the head of state, but by doing so t.A.T.u�s management is probably trying to circumvent another article of the Law on Presidential Elections. The problem is, the law stipulates that the minimum age of a candidate must be 35. As both of the t.A.T.u girls are in their late teens, their combined ages exceed the required minimum.