Translated material
Rehearsal for leaving
The President of Adygea checked the reaction of deputies of the republican parliament to his future resignation
Yesterday, little Adygea made a lot of noise in the Russian media. In the first half of the day, news agencies spread reports that the president of this republic, Khazret Sovmen, had decided to resign. The news was unexpected: Khazret Sovmen's presidential powers will expire in January 2007.However, it could be assumed that the difficult political situation in the republic and the difficult situation in its economy forced Mr. Sovmen to voluntarily write a letter of resignation. It was reported that the President of Adygea announced his resignation at the first session of the State Council-Khase of the republic of the fourth convocation, then submitted a statement to the Chairman of the State Council Ruslan Khadzhebiekov and then hastily left the meeting room. At the same time, the chairman of the parliament did not put the issue of the president’s resignation on the agenda of the session and did not even read Mr. Sovmen’s statement to the deputies. It was alleged that the president of Adygea, before leaving, named the names of his possible successors - Asker Zhane, now the chief physician of the well-known “Clinic of the 21st Century” in the republic, and in 2002 the head of the election headquarters of the Adyghe president, as well as Murat Kudaev, the head of one of the most successful districts of Adygea - Krasnogvardeisky. However, in the afternoon, the press secretary of the President of Adygea, Abrek Chich, said that Khazret Sovmen had not submitted any resignation letter.
It was then that it turned out that yesterday there was a small conflict in the Adyghe State Council. Khazret Sovmen was outraged by the behavior of several deputies who did not stand up when he entered the hall. The President of Adygea saw in such behavior a demonstrative disrespect for his own person. After which, offended, he declared that he had never clung to the presidency and was ready to leave it at any moment.
After this, Khazret Sovmen hurriedly went to his office - so the deputies decided that this was his way of announcing his resignation. As one would expect, the people's representatives reacted to Mr. Sovmen's possible resignation in different ways. According to a Vremya Novostey source in the Adyghe State Council, some deputies, mainly members of the United Russia faction and at the same time members of the political council of the regional branch of the party, rushed after Mr. Sovmen to dissuade their leader from a rash step. (Khazret Sovmen heads the Adyghe United Russia.) Another part of the parliamentarians - representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Agrarian and Industrial Parties - showed restrained optimism: the resignation of Khazret Sovmen would certainly please them.
Let us remind you that there are only 54 deputies in the Adyghe parliament. The largest faction - 30 people - belongs to United Russia. Nevertheless, according to information received yesterday evening, the United Russia faction in the Adyghe parliament began preparing an appeal to the Russian president with a request to nominate Khazret Sovmen to vest the powers of the president of Adyghe for a new term. The problem is that this appeal must be approved by a majority vote of the Adyghe parliament. Formally, if the issue of supporting Mr. Sovmen's candidacy as president is put to a vote, thirty votes from United Russia will outweigh the votes of the rest of the deputies. The problem is that not all Adyghe United Russia members support the current president of the republic.
Yesterday's events in Adygea gave rise to observers once again to assume that Vladimir Putin is unlikely to present the candidacy of Khazret Sovmen to the deputies of the republican State Council for approval as the head of the republic. But Asker Zhane and Murat Kudaev, who were mentioned yesterday as his successors, are also not considered real candidates for the highest post in Adygea. A Vremya Novostey source in the republican parliament considers the most likely candidate for Adyghe president to be Murat Akhedzhak, who currently holds the post of deputy governor of the Krasnodar Territory. An Adyg by nationality, a native of Adygea, Murat Akhedzhak, as you know, enjoys great confidence from the Governor of Kuban, Alexander Tkachev. In addition, Mr. Akhedzhak is sympathized with in the Kremlin. After an unsuccessful operation to remove appendicitis, Mr. Akhedzhak was treated for a long time in Germany, but, according to information received from the regional administration, he should return to Krasnodar in May and resume his duties as vice-governor. According to the source, given that in the near future the new Adyghe parliament will adopt a law on a referendum, and the republic will most likely hold a referendum on the issue of unification with the Krasnodar Territory, the result of which is predetermined (the majority of the population will vote for unification), the candidacy of Murat Akhedzhak for the post of head of Adygea is - the most real.