Dudayev accused the Central Bank of creating obstacles to voting for Grozny-City

Voting for the new 500-ruble banknote design is now only possible by logging in through Gosuslugi; other authorization options were previously offered. Chechen Minister Akhmed Dudayev accused the Central Bank of changing the rules of the game when Grozny-City became the leader in the vote.

As reported by the " Caucasian Knot ," on October 10, Ramzan Kadyrov announced a giveaway of ten iPhone 17s among those who voted four times (on VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, by email, and on Gosuslugi) for the image of "Grozny-City" on the back of the 500-ruble note and posted about it on social media. Kadyrov's promise became a tool of influence, similar to the use of administrative resources in the Chechen elections.

On October 11, Chechen Minister for National Policy, External Relations, Press, and Information Akhmed Dudayev addressed the Central Bank of Russia regarding the vote on the new design of the 500-ruble banknote. In a video message on his Telegram channel, he stated that Chechen residents "very actively" voted for the banknote to feature the "beloved high-rise complex Grozny City."

Dudayev noted that the residents of Chechnya had "mobilized," and Grozny-City had pulled ahead in the voting "by a wide margin," but then the Central Bank "changed the terms of the vote it had announced."

"Some platforms are being shut down without explanation. Initially, the Central Bank announced that voting could be done through Gosuslugi, [email], Odnoklassniki, and VKontakte, but now we're seeing some of these platforms being shut down. They're seeing a surge in votes from residents of the Chechen Republic and from our friends in that country, whom we called on to help vote for Grozny-City. There's a huge surge, we're pulling far ahead—and then some platforms are shutting down," the minister stated.

He appealed to the Central Bank, declaring that if it was unable to "ensure objectivity and fairness," then why did the vote even begin? Dudayev emphasized that Chechens are not protesting against the symbols of other regions, but are "simply voting for their own version." 

He also added that online "they are trying to give the vote some kind of interethnic flavor, to introduce a political component." He accused "nationalists, fifth columnists, liberals, and foreign agents of all stripes" of "immediately resorting to insults against the Chechen people." They, according to Dudayev, "began shouting about some kind of manipulation, now insulting both the Central Bank and the Chechens, demanding in an ultimatum the abolition of all voting methods except for the Gosuslugi [Government Services] service." 

He also stated that the Central Bank, instead of "giving a legal assessment to openly extremist calls and protecting its reputation from public discreditation... is hastily fulfilling all the demands of the nationalists precisely at the moment when Grozny-City has pulled ahead significantly." "All voting methods except one were eliminated. And then suddenly, the votes already collected for Grozny-City began mysteriously declining, while our opponents' numbers began to show 'phenomenal' growth, adding 20,000 per hour," the minister wrote.

He asked the Central Bank of Russia five questions, specifically whether vote manipulation is truly possible on the website, why public discrediting of the Central Bank is allowed, where the votes for Grozny "disappeared," why the voting regulations were changed when Grozny-City became the leader, and "who can guarantee the Chechen people the honesty and fairness of this process."

It's worth noting that, when attempting to vote for a particular symbol on the 500-ruble note on the Central Bank's website, you can now only log in through the "Gosuslugi" website; there are no other options. Voting on the Central Bank's website began on October 1 and will end at 12:00 PM Moscow time on October 14. The results will influence the final design of the banknote.

Earlier on October 10, State Duma Deputy Speaker and First Deputy Speaker of the New People faction, Vladislav Davankov, recalled that Ramzan Kadyrov had announced a reward for those who voted for Grozny-City and proposed holding a raffle among those who supported the Elbrus option. Prizes included a trip to one of the best sanatoriums on Elbrus for two and 100 "Highest Point of the Caucasus" T-shirts or any other New People merchandise.

As a reminder, the idea of ​​depicting "Grozny-City" or Mount Elbrus on the new 500-ruble banknote was criticized by the "Russian Community," calling it  "ideological sabotage ." Blogger Max Divnich, who had clashed with "Akhmat," urged his followers to vote for Elbrus over Grozny.

Regional leaders called on residents to participate in the symbol selection, while social media users called the competition  far-fetched . Several symbols will be used on each side of the 500-ruble note, and the winner of the vote will not necessarily occupy the central place on the banknote, the Bank of Russia explained.

The idea of ​​depicting "Grozny-City" on the 500-ruble banknote, which the "Russian Community" is campaigning against, is presented by Kadyrov as a symbol of the success of the imperial project, while both sides in the conflict are concerned only with their own prestige and influence, and not with state unity.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/416242