Translated material
All alone
Akhmat Kadyrov has run out of rivals
The presidential elections in the Chechen Republic became uncontested. Akhmat Kadyrov's two main rivals dropped out of the race. First, the decision to recuse himself was made by State Duma deputy from Chechnya Aslambek Aslakhanov; a few hours later, the Supreme Court of Chechnya removed another favorite from the race - Moscow businessman Malik Saidullaev. Mr. Aslakhanov explained his refusal to fight by the fact that in the republic “there is no possibility of conducting a normal propaganda campaign.”According to the ex-contender himself, no one put pressure on him. However, pressure can take different forms. Immediately after his announcement that he was withdrawing his candidacy, the Kremlin announced the appointment of Mr. Aslakhanov to the post of presidential assistant for problems of the South of Russia. The signing of a corresponding presidential decree is expected in the near future.
The Kremlin, however, is not rubber and Mr. Saidullaev had to be removed from the election race with the help of other, but no less reliable, means. The Supreme Court of Chechnya canceled his registration, satisfying the complaint of another candidate for the post of president of the republic, Nikolai Paizulaev, who argued that Saidullaev’s signature sheets were not properly completed. Mr. Saidullaev himself intends to appeal this decision of the highest court of the republic in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. He stated this yesterday to ITAR-TASS. According to him, “I expected such a turn of events. There are political motives in the decision of the judiciary.” “While my campaign headquarters still has time to protest this decision, tomorrow we will submit all the documents necessary for this to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation,” he emphasized. Mr. Saidullaev’s popularity in the republic noticeably exceeds that of Mr. Kadyrov, and he stubbornly responded with a categorical refusal to direct offers to recuse himself, made to him in recent days both in Chechnya and in Moscow. As a result, a court hearing was held on the claim of Mr. Paizullaev, claiming that half of the signatures submitted by the entrepreneur to the republican election commission were invalid. Meanwhile, the results of the examination, which was carried out by the election commission itself before registration, indicate that only 5% of the signatures are invalid. Lawyers for Malik Saidullaev’s election headquarters told the Vremya Novostey newspaper that in order to “disqualify” a candidate, 25% of the signatures must be rejected. “We trust the examination conducted by the election commission, especially since it was carried out with the involvement of police handwriting experts,” say the lawyers. They have no doubt that the process was inspired. “The complaint filed the other day has the date August 1,” Mr. Saidullaev’s headquarters told the Vremya Novostei newspaper. “It may be a technical error, but it is likely that the document was prepared in advance, and now it has simply been given the go-ahead.” By the way, the complainant, whom the Chechen election commission presents as a “famous poet,” worked in the press service of Akhmat Kadyrov before the elections.
A high-ranking source of the Vremya Novostei newspaper in the Kremlin notes that the federal center was not idiosyncratic about any of the possible winners of the elections. But although the Kremlin, says the newspaper’s interlocutor, could work with Mr. Kadyrov, and with Mr. Saidullaev, and with Mr. Aslakhanov (especially since their ratings, according to unofficial data, are quite close), we have to evaluate this perspective on a wider range of factors. One of these factors in the presidential administration is considered a possible redistribution of spheres of influence in the economy in the event of Akhmat Kadyrov leaving the presidential post.
And since the federal government is committed to peaceful coexistence with all three presidential candidates in Chechnya, its interests would be contrary not only to the post-election struggle between them, but also to excessive hostility during the election campaign. Mr. Aslakhanov’s “withdrawal from the race” cannot be called unexpected. A week ago, he already spoke about his intention to run for the State Duma again from Chechnya. The less experienced but more persistent candidate Saudullaev had to experience the effectiveness of the Chechen femida. And Akhmat Kadyrov, who remained in splendid isolation, was received yesterday in Sochi by President Putin and discussed with him the problem of compensation that residents of Chechnya should receive for lost housing.
Meanwhile, the head of the Presidential Commission on Human Rights, Ella Pamfilova, noted yesterday that during the elections in Chechnya, the activities of the detachments formed by the son of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, should be suspended in order to at least partially normalize the atmosphere. According to Ms. Pamfilova, the protection of polling stations should not be carried out by “Kadyrov’s men,” but by federal military and police officers, who could protect citizens from possible “forceful influence.”
But after the recusals of Khussein Dzhabrailov and Aslambek Aslakhanov and the removal of Malik Saidullaev, Mr. Kadyrov can win even without resorting to significant violations. They simply don’t know any of his remaining rivals in Chechnya. However, it is unclear whether such an uncontested victory will bring the result that the Kremlin was counting on when it began the process of “political settlement” in the rebellious republic. Judging by sociological polls, the population of Chechnya until recently was committed to real elections, and not a plebiscite in support of Mr. Kadyrov. And it is possible that some of the supporters of Aslakhanov, Dzhabrailov and Saidullaev simply do not recognize the voting results. This means that militants will have an additional opportunity to recruit supporters.