Translated material
Formal decorum
Dmitry Kozak proposed an alternative to Ramzan Kadyrov
Russian Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District Dmitry Kozak will propose to the head of state three candidates for the post of head of Chechnya, which has been vacant since Alu Alkhanov resigned on February 15. In addition to Ramzan Kadyrov, whom Vladimir Putin instructed to temporarily lead the republic, there are two more names on the list: the head of the Chechen branch of A Just Russia, Muslim Khuchiev, and the head of the Grozny rural district, Shahid Jamaldaev.The candidates were named as a result of a meeting that the plenipotentiary held on Wednesday in Grozny with representatives of the Chechen public and the political establishment. Before the start of the event, the plenipotentiary flattered the hosts, noting that hardworking Chechens can “move mountains.” And at the end he assured that he “felt the spirit of the meeting” and promised to convey it to the head of state. The “spirit” turned out to be quite clear: the majority of participants expressed support for the candidacy of Ramzan Kadyrov. But the law does not allow less than two candidates to be proposed for consideration by the President of Russia. Accordingly, the main choice is up to the president: he submits one candidate to the regional parliament, and since the abolition of the election of governors, regional legislators have never allowed themselves to disagree with Vladimir Putin the first time. The President of Russia submits a candidacy within 14 days from the date of resignation of the previous head of the region. This means that before the beginning of the calendar spring, Chechen parliamentarians will receive confirmation of the preferences of the head of state, expressed by him on February 15.
The list of candidates is interesting because, unlike the procedure for changing presidents in Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria and Adygea, it apparently does not contain a candidate supported by Dmitry Kozak himself. From the repeated statements of the plenipotentiary over the past five months, it follows that he did not at all expect such serious personnel changes in Chechnya in the near future. However, Dmitry Kozak did not allow himself to openly criticize Mr. Kadyrov, who is formally listed as his adviser on security forces, calling him a completely “trainable” politician.
In addition to Ramzan Kadyrov, the list includes two people who are considered his supporters in Chechnya. Shahid Jamaldaev headed the Grozny region in the terrible year 2000 and later joined the State Council of Chechnya - the prototype of the parliament, in which heads of administrations were included ex officio. And before forming the State Council, the then head of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, once again checked all district leaders for personal loyalty. Muslim Khuchiev worked for some time in the administration of President Alu Alkhanov, primarily responsible for the cultural sector, but at the same time belonged to “Kadyrov’s team.” It is interesting that the Minister of Labor and Social Development of Chechnya, Magomed Vakhaev, whom Ramzan Kadyrov himself recently called a likely presidential candidate for his exemplary work, was not included in the list.
The finalist of the competition will obviously be Ramzan Kadyrov. This fits well with the “party president” scheme just tested in Adygea: Mr. Kadyrov heads the Chechen “United Russia”, which for this reason has a majority in both houses of parliament. “A Just Russia” was created recently in Chechnya and is still unknown to few people.
But if the plenipotentiary representative and the head of state himself fully meet the legal deadlines, then Chechen parliamentarians may find themselves in a difficult situation and delay Ramzan Kadyrov’s career growth for some time. The fact is that, according to the Chechen constitution, the president of the republic is still elected, and in order to change this order to approval by parliament, a constitutional assembly must be convened. There has been a law on such a meeting in Chechnya since last year, but nothing has been known about the meeting itself until now. If parliament votes for the candidacy introduced by Vladimir Putin before the constitutional changes, the new president, even with the highest popularity, may have problems with legitimacy.
Analysts at the Moscow representative office of Chechnya suggested with obvious doubt that the constitution had not yet been changed, and advised that this should be clarified in the parliamentary office. But parliament, apparently, was absorbed in consultations with the plenipotentiary all day yesterday. True, the press service of Ramzan Kadyrov himself assured the Vremya Novostey correspondent that all the necessary regulatory framework already exists in the republic.
It seems that there is also an opposition in the republic: Secretary of the Chechen Security Council German Vok , who three days before the resignation of Alu Alkhanov subjected Ramzan Kadyrov to devastating criticism in an interview with Ekho Moskvy, told Vremya Novostey yesterday that “he is not hiding from anyone, he is in Russia and only on Tuesday arrived from Chechnya to Moscow.” Mr. Vock said he did not back down from criticizing Mr. Kadyrov: “If I was afraid, I would not have made such statements.” When asked about his current status, German Vok replied that he was on vacation and had no plans to return to work in Grozny “under the current circumstances,” but did not plan to “leave politics.”