Djambulat Umarov's phrase highlights distrust of election of Chechen leader

In Chechnya, there is no political figure capable to compete with Ramzan Kadyrov at the election of the leader of Chechnya, but statements of common support for Ramzan Kadyrov in Chechnya are not credible. This opinion was voiced by analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" when they were commenting on the statement of Djambulat Umarov about the election where Ramzan Kadyrov was actually the only alternative for the position of the Chechen leader.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 18, Djambulat Umarov, Chechen Minister of National Policy, said that the election of the leader of the republic, won by Ramzan Kadyrov three years ago, could not be called an "election with alternative candidates."

Reports on the results of the voting in Chechnya, like in other republics of Northern Caucasus, are not credible, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been told by Mikhail Roschin, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).

"The credibility of the election has been greatly undermined. However, today, [in Chechnya] no one can compete with the leader of Chechnya, there is no such strength or personality. Therefore, it is clear that he is gaining the highest percentage of votes. Of course, the number of votes is overstated, but in general, the results show that the majority stands for Ramzan Kadyrov," said Mikhail Roschin.

In Chechnya, there is no real opposition to Ramzan Kadyrov, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been told by Sergey Zhavoronkov, an expert at the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy. "Yes, many people support him, but it does not follow that everyone stands for Ramzan Kadyrov in Chechnya," noted Sergey Zhavoronkov.

According to him, 97% of the votes in support of Ramzan Kadyrov seem overstated. "If the same election is held tomorrow, it will not be the legitimization of Ramzan Kadyrov, but, on the contrary, his discrimination. Since a victory with 97% of the votes is a comedy for the whole world," the political analyst noted.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 25, 2019 at 12:03 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.