19 May 2004 17:41
Russian experts offers his vision of power structures in Chechnya
On 9 May, Chechen President Akhmat Kadyrov was killed in Groznyy. Yes, he had many enemies, so his death was not an
accident. But where are guarantees that a new president will be able to complete his term of office? And what must be
done to increase the future president's confidence in the support of all Chechens? Sergey Shakhray is trying to
answer the questions.
Why has the Chechen crisis proved to be a stumbling block for Russia? We must admit that for the last 10 years the
federal centre has been perpetuating at least three typical mistakes.
The first reason lies in the inaccurate diagnosis and, consequently, the wrong choice of remedies.
There have been attempts to use political methods to resolve what could have been done by administrative measures.
Force has been used where purely economic levers should have been employed. By influencing public opinion, there were
attempts to create what should have been set up by law.
The second reason is the lack of a coordinated strategic approach. The centre is not so much managing the process as
reacting to changes in the current situation. As a result, events in Chechnya are governing the centre's
policy.
The third reason is the refusal to take into account the special mind-set of the Chechens. For the last 10 years the
federal centre has been trying to force a pre-feudal society into the framework of alien concepts: representative
democracy, presidential governing and "rule of law".
Unfortunately, the political views of many Chechens are reflected in the famous statement by Shamil [legendary leader
of Chechens in their fight against Russian forces in 19th century]: "The Chechens have no prison for their
criminals, nor a pedestal for their heroes" (meaning that the Chechens do not condemn the crimes of their
tribesmen, nor will they acknowledge the superiority of any other Chechen).
It follows that if the federal centre insists on the presence of a habitual "high-ranking official" in the
republic this "official" must be collective. No teyp [Chechen tribe] will entrust a representative of another
teyp with defending the former's interests, whereas a decision made collectively by authoritative people will be
supported and carried out by everybody.
This is a matter of principles of setting up governing bodies in the Chechen Republic.
There are following limitations in our model:
1. An institution whose decisions will be mandatory for the whole of Chechen society must be collective.
2. Differences in political ideas and social life in the mountains and more civilized lowland regions in Chechnya
must be taken into account.
3. The power system in the Chechen Republic must be in line with the Russian Constitution and take into account local
traditions and customs.
On the basis of these limitations, the following legal solution is possible. An amendment to the republic's
constitution should be adopted: "The people of the Chechen Republic execute their power directly (through
referendums and free elections), and also through bodies of people's representation, state power and local
government".
The body of people's representation will be the State Council. It will be formed by electing representatives in
the lowland regions and by direct nomination in the mountain regions. The president, parliament members and government
members will be included in the State Council ex officio.
The bodies of the republic's state power will be formed on the basis of the federal law "On the general
principles of the organization of legislative (representative) and executive bodies of state power of the constituent
parts of the Russian Federation".
Their appearance in the Chechen Republic must be symbolically "sanctified" by the State Council's
approval. The thing is that Chechen society differentiates between the "external" formal (state) power and
"internal", true power. Therefore, a formal leader's decisions will have no meaning to the Chechens is
they are not sanctified by the approval of "true authorities". Only then the activities and decisions of the
Chechen president, parliament and government will be "legal" not only for the federal centre but also for
Chechen society.
At the first (transitional) stage of the formation of bodies of power in Chechnya the State Council will play a
particular "founding" role. It will work as a mechanism for peacefully settling internal disagreements (a
"political buffer", a "people's council"). It will become active in crises and turning-point
situations.
This model of organizing power in societies of the Chechen type could be one of the methods to defuse or prevent
disastrous consequences of clashes between cultures and ideologies.
[Argumenty i Fakty] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
