Soon after the parliamentary elections in January 2012, President Medvedev presented a bill on launching direct elections of heads of the federative regions. Commenting on this initiative, experts were concerned that giving wider authority to regions would increase separatist tendencies in the Muslim regions. In Chechnya, the most skeptical observers doubt that the heads of the regions could settle territorial argues between Chechens-Akkins, Avars and Laks, and between Ingushes and Ossetians without the participation of Moscow.
However, in Grozny they call the election of governors “a demand of the times” and say that citizens have advanced in political issues. Local observers believe that in the early 1990s a serious mistake was made: right after dissolution of the Soviet Union the country shifted to direct elections of regional heads, but Russia wasn’t prepared for it. In many regions criminals came to power. Chechen experts think that elections should be launched later and not in all regions. The level of readiness of the population has to be considered. However, the current situation differs from the one in the early 2000s. Today in Chechnya voting for governors is considered to be a basis for development of the democratic process. As for possible separatist tendencies, considering experience, the national leader of the Chechens wouldn’t do it. The population of the republic is sure that the events of the 1990s in Chechnya were caused by a global provocation toward Chechens.
After substitution of the procedure of presidential appointments with elections for governors, the main intrigue in Chechnya is the list of candidates for this position. Social activists say that the republic has many respected people, but they see no alternative to the current leader of the region. Ramzan Kadyrov is an experienced politician. Last year, deputies of the Chechen parliament re-elected Kadyrov unanimously for a new five-year term.
