Timur Utsayev, Grozny. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
The order on making the 23rd of March the Day of the Chechen Republic Constitution and the national holiday was signed by the late head of Chechnya, Akhmat Kadyrov, on March 24, 2003. A special initiative group and a consulting council of representatives of all ethnic groups of the republic were established to prepare the referendum of 2003. The member of the initiative group and the chairman of the consulting council, Shaid Jamaldayev, told Vestnik Kavkaza about the events.
“This event followed 20 years of anarchy in Chechnya. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, political forces of Russia and the authorities themselves were imperfect. There was uncertainty in Russian regions as well. Politicians in regions were more interested in developments in the federal center. In this situation, after two wars we had to return Chechnya into the constitutional field. We are grateful to Vladimir Putin who chose Akhmat Kadyrov as the head of the republic. A serious working plan was developed, the plan of settlement of the crisis in the Chechen Republic; a constitutional council of representatives of all ethnic groups living in Chechnya was founded. Ahead of the referendum, the session of ethnic groups of Chechnya took place in Gudermes.
We had to return our children to schools, put them at desks of more than 266 schools, open bus routes to all residential areas, and normalize the situation. The great will, infinite energy, deep patriotism, devotedness of Akhmat Kadyrov encouraged the things which were done. He paid with his life for this. He understood that a referendum was a political democratic settlement of the crisis. Results of the referendum could be falsified, but Kadyrov said he wanted to know the desire of every person who has a right to vote,” Jamaldayev remembers.
“On the other hand, the Council of Europe and the PACE pressed so much – they found only drawbacks. I can say that the Council of Europe used to consider Chechnya only an instrument of pressure on Russia. They didn’t give us any support or positive. We were invited for negotiations twice by the Council of Europe. There were 30 deputies from Ichkeria and 2-3 people of us. The Council of Europe paid to each representative of Ichkeria for months. Each of them had 5-10 minutes for speeches everyday, while we had only one speech. Dozens of observers came to the referendum, even from the Arab countries. The Council of Europe and the PACE had two people at each ballot commission district. However, the elections were serious, people expressed their views, Chechnya needed the constitution. It is the main law, a guarantee of human rights and freedoms. Ahead of the referendum people began to disappear; the forced structures tried to discredit us,” Jamaldayev says.
“Kadyrov said that the constitution, except for language and national interest, should correlate to the Constitution of the RF. And we succeeded. People wanted to show their matureness so much. People of my generation know that in the 1970-80s the educational level of the Soviet Union was in top ten. The boom of entering universities of Russia by Chechen young people took place. All neighboring republics were full of our students. All our own universities and colleges were full. Kadyrov said that we worked not only in favor of the republic, but for maintenance of Russia’s integrity. He was a hero, and we should raise out youth through such examples,” Jamaldayev thinks.
