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English Language Page Chair of the Election commission of the Chechen republic Abdul-Kerim Arsakhanov Ruslan Umarov, kavkaz.memo.ru Abdul-Kerim, what is your assessment of the candidates’ respective campaigns for the presidency of the Chechen Republic? Do they meet the necessary requirements? As a whole, everything goes on within the limits admissible by the law. There are some complaints on the part of separate candidates and some part of the population, including journalists, concerning the fact that not all the candidates make equal use of promotion means, of street posters in particular. But I must say that there were no obsatcles. Special accounts were opened for all the candidates for the presidency and money is transferred to these accounts from private persons and organizations, and not from the state. And here everything depends on the financial potential of the candidate. Kadyrov, for instance, has 29 million roubles on his account with the limit being 30 million, but he has spent only about 3–4 million at present. Noone is exceeding the limit of the expenses, we are monitoring it. We determined the time allocated to every candidate for his televised or published speeches — both paid and free time. Yet, some candidates did not take the effort to make full use even of their free time of television broadcasts. Remind our readers, how many candidates take part in the race? There are 7 candidates left. As you know, Malik Saidullaev sent an appeal to the RF Supreme Court. If the court decides to resume his registration, his campaign will continue. Abdul-Kerim, why nobody mentions the bail money he paid, isn’t that sufficient grounds for registration? The collection of signatures of voters is the primary basis for registering a candidate. The bail money is a sort of a step made in case when there are problems with signatures. Does it replace collecting signatures? It does not replace anything. If we had any doubts or worries concerning signatures provided by Saidullaev, we would have registered him using bail money as the grounds for it. From our point of view, the signatures he collected contained no essential omissions or faults. We feel that it is enough to provide the information concerning the persons who gave the signatures, so that we could contact him or her when we need it. But the court found some faults in the way the subscription lists were filled out. So, he did pay the bail money, didn’t he? Yes, he did. But his agents or himself were to give us an indication that he wanted to be registered on the basis of the bail money… So, these are two different ways. Yes. They are different. And they are to be defined on the day when the documents for the potential registration are considered. Please, list the people who are still in the presidential race. They are A. Kadyrov, Kh. Biybulatov, A. Bugaev, Sh. Buraev, K. Saduev, N. Paizullaev, and A. Khanchukaev. By the way, Avkhat Khanchukaev makes an extremely effective use of the free time. His behavior is fully appropriate, he does not accuse anybody, he speaks only of himself and his presidential programme. Abdul-Kerim, do you have any complaints from the candidates or their agents? There are rumors that the authorities of some districts do not allow to open the election campaign centers of certain candidates, aren’t there? I can assess the situation only by the statements or complaints that were handed to the Election Commission. We have nothing yet. If we had any signal about it, we would have immediately interferred. Besides that, I use every meeting with the heads of district administrations to remind them that it is inadmissible to infringe upon the rights of any candidate. They all have equal rights. But, to my surprise, some candidates are passive in the implementation of their rights. Perhaps, they are not sure at all that they will be able to get the necessary number of votes? Or they are too sure of themselves… Well, that is possible, too. Were there any lawless actions, subversive acts aimed at the polling stations up to the present day? There were some arson attempts and the attempts to blow up polling station, but it is not surprising in Chechnya today. We have something like that almost every day here. Who is guarding polling stations, the Chechnya Election Commission: are those federal structures or local ones? The Ministry of the Internal Affairs, military commandant’s office, the Prosecutor’s Office of the Chechen Republic outlined the plan of work concerning mutual promotion of security that concerns both polling stations and the population. Since September 25 all the polling stations will be guarded 24 hours a day. Local forces will be mainly used for it, although the federal structures will also be involved. How did you tackle the problems of communication and transport? I must say that we conducted some huge amount of work. Each of the 425 polling stations of the republic will be provided with communication means. At some highland locations radio communication and land transport will be used. We are 90% ready for the elections today. We still have to make signs for the polling stations, but we are in no hurry to do this. It is important that the required number of the ballots has been printed, and they are already there on the spot, together with the stationery. The stations have full financial support. We provided all the money that followed from our estimates — 57 million roubles. Everything is going on in full accordance with the schedule. Does the Election Commission feel any pressure? This is a frequent question journalists ask… That’s our job. I can’t say that we don’t feel any pressure, but it is not serious enough to interfere with our work, to limit the freedom of our activity. There were attempts to bribe certain members of the Election Commission but, to pay credit to their honesty, they did not give up to it. You must have heard that there was a fight here, in the Election Commission. If people fight, it means they do real work. And I already spoke to one newspaper about it. Basically, we are at last equal with different economically developed countries, such as America, Japan, Italy, and as for the State Duma of the Russian Federation, it seems that the deputies fight every day. You are not lagging behind the time. Yes, but we made the sides in the fight sign truce and shake hands. Abdul-Kerim, I’d like to hear your comments concerning the unexpected withdrawal of competitive candidates from the presidential race. Evil tongues claim that they were neutralized by the Kremlin to pave the way for its lieutenant. I cannot say that they withdrew their candidacies against their will. I have no facts that indicate it. I admit another thing: the Kremlin unconsciously advertised for Kadyrov, but it was connected with his work. Life cannot stop because of the elections. The leader of the republic, even during his campaign-related vacation, cannot avoid governmental business, planned meetings and actions. That is why the so-called administrative resource comes into limelight. Nobody is going to lift off Kadyrov’s shoulders his responsibility for everything that is going on in the republic, including the payment of damages to those who suffered from the war. It is obvious, Abdul-Kerim, that the results of these elections are predetermined by the objective reality we have in the Chechen Republic, and they will hardly be influenced by certain faults of the election campaign. What can you say of the other elections that are scheduled later, of the elections to the State Duma? Yes, the wave of the second elections is already upon us. Some citizens have already proposed themselves as candidates, and their documents and lists of signatures are reaching us. So, today we are working in the mode of two elections which are scheduled for October 5 and December 7 of this year. And then, March 2004 is not be far away when we are going to elect the President of the Russian Federation. Obviously, the next year will see the election of the Chechen Parliament because the State Council of the Chechen Republic is a step to the full-fledged legislative body, the Parliament? Yes, the presence of all branches of power must give us at last an absolutely legitimate power in the Chechen Republic. I somehow believe that the parliamentary elections in the Chechen Republic must be held before the election of the Russian President. The quicker we shall form all the bodies of power, the quicker we’ll revive our republic. [1] So be it. Thank you for the interview, Abdul-Kerim. September 24, 2003 1 It is already known that the elections for the Chechen Parliament shall be held in mid-March 2004, on the same day with the Presidential Elections in the Russian Federation. Back |
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