“The referendum will look like a farce”

Referendum and elections are useful and good things. But in order to carry them out, it is necessary to create proper peaceful living conditions. In conditions when the most guarded government building in the republic is blown up and hundreds of people are killed, in conditions when there is a curfew, when militants control many populated areas at night, when 75 thousand of our soldiers and officers are stationed there, and there is no order— the referendum will look like a farce. Therefore, we are in favor of a referendum, but on condition that an all-Chechen “round table” is held, at which the fundamental problems of the future fate of Chechnya would be discussed.

But to be completely consistent, then, of course, you need to know the history of Chechnya in order to make the right decisions. In the history of Chechnya there has never been any supreme power; there has always been local self-government. Village leaders met once a year to resolve general Chechen issues. Therefore, if the Kremlin really had a real political will for peace, then instead of holding a referendum and presidential elections, it would be necessary to first elect local government bodies, then turn the elected heads of local government into a constitutional assembly, discuss the constitution and hold elections to the Chechen parliament in December.

And one more topic: I think that with Comrade Kadyrov at the head of the republic, it’s unlikely that anything will work out. He is one of the presidential candidates in Chechnya, and he believes that he will become the elected head of the republic. He thinks not so much about the political fate of Chechnya as about his own political fate, and these are different things. Therefore, if I were Vladimir Putin, I would appoint as the head of Chechnya until the elections a person who will not apply for an elected position.

Boris NEMTSOV, head of the Union of Right Forces faction in the State Duma