Kremlin's man wins Russia's Chechen elections

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 07, 2003

Kremlin's man wins Russia's Chechen elections

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Chechnya's Kremlin-backed acting President Akhmad Kadyrov was declared the winner yesterday in the region's presidential vote.

With more than 77 per cent of the votes counted, Kadyrov had 81.1 per cent, regional Election Commission Chairman Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov told reporters in Grozny, the regional capital. He said 85 per cent of Chechnya's 561,000 eligible voters cast ballots.

President Vladimir Putin praised the election in a region devastated by a separatist war that just entered its fifth year.

"The very fact of such a high turnout shows that people have hope - hope for a better life, for positive changes in the life of the republic," Putin said at a cabinet meeting.

The outcome was widely expected after Kadyrov's main challengers withdrew or were removed from the election, which is seen by Moscow as a major step towards peace.

Speaking to Rossiya state television outside his home in the Chechen village of Tsentoroi yesterday, Kadyrov said he felt "an enormous burden of responsibility for the republic and for the people who trusted me."

The election was held amid high security. Chechnya's Deputy Interior Minister, Akhmed Dakayev, said a man tried to enter a polling station in the village of Assinovskaya with an automatic rifle and a grenade launcher. The man ignored orders to stop, and guards opened fire, wounding him, Interfax quoted Dakayev as saying.

Russian officials have promised that Chechnya will have a high degree of autonomy after the election, but the specifics have yet to be determined. Stanislav Ilyasov, Russia's minister for Chechen affairs, said yesterday that Russian and Chechen officials would sign a treaty outlining the regional authorities' sphere of control by the end of the year, according to ITAR-Tass.

Chechnya "will engage in the rehabilitation of its facilities on its own and manage its own resources," Ilyasov was quoted as saying.

Kadyrov said he would ask the Russian parliament to renew an amnesty that was offered to rebels during the summer and expired in September. He said 171 fighters had surrendered under the amnesty and that many of them were now serving in his security service, headed by his son Ramzan, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Kadyrov also said there would be no major personnel changes in his government.

Major Western governments including the United States have been cautious about criticism, expressing hope that the vote can help foster a political solution to the conflict.

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